impunity
noun
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Impunity, like the words pain, penal, and punish, traces to the Latin noun poena, meaning "punishment." Poena, in turn, came from the Greek poinē, meaning "payment" or "penalty." Impunity has been around since the 1500s; in 1660, Englishman Roger Coke wrote "This unlimited power of doing anything with impunity, will only beget a confidence in kings of doing what they [desire]." While royals may act with impunity more easily than others, the word impunity can be applied to beings great and small. Take, for example, this 2023 quote from the Sidmouth Herald in England: "The [yew tree] fruits are readily eaten by birds but they do not digest the seeds as they are poisonous. Only one bird, the rare and shy Hawfinch, is able to eat the seeds with impunity."
Examples of impunity in a Sentence
Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
The testimony law barring Black people from testifying against white people meant white criminals could, and did, rob and assault Black people with impunity.
—Equal Justice Initiative, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
As rival governments emerge and the country fragments, access to aid has been weaponized and humanitarian workers killed with impunity.
—David Miliband, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
At the core of this pattern of impunity is an overwhelming lack of political will on the part of states and political leaders to uphold the rule of law worldwide.
—Scott Griffen, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impunity
Cite this Entry
“Impunity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impunity. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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impunity
noun
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