penal

adjective

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pe·nal | \ ˈpē-nᵊl

Definition of penal

1 : of, relating to, or involving punishment, penalties, or punitive institutions

2 : liable to punishment a penal offense

3 : used as a place of confinement and punishment a penal colony

Other Words from penal Synonyms & Antonyms Did you know? More Example Sentences Phrases Containing penal Learn More About penal

Examples of penal in a Sentence

Australia was once a penal colony.

Recent Examples on the Web Once Hock fell into the Nazi penal system, bureaucrats took a harder look at her record, smoothing her path into the camps. — Samuel Huneke, CNN, 2 June 2022 After Conrad’s father Apollo was implicated in the Polish revolution suppressed by Russia in 1863, he and his family were exiled to the harsh climate and brutal life of Vologda, a penal town 250 miles northeast of Moscow. — Jeffrey Meyers, WSJ, 27 May 2022 But penal statutes, including those that are commonly used in terrorism cases, are enforcement tools, not political labels. — The Editors, National Review, 17 May 2022 Going into hiding, too, was dangerous; people believed that those who were caught would be deported immediately to penal camps. — Ruth Franklin, The New York Review of Books, 11 May 2022 The family’s heritage is as diverse as the stories within the novel: Native American, European penal colonist, plantation owner, enslaved African. — Samantha Laine Perfas, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 2022 For instance, Boris Grekov, director of Moscow’s Russian History Institute, had seen his son sentenced to penal servitude and, in terror, made wide-ranging concessions to the Stalinist line, writing books and papers to order. — Richard Cohen, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Mar. 2022 While in a penal colony in the Russian republic of Mordovia, Mr. Reed was subjected to degrading treatment, including time in a solitary cell, his family has said. — New York Times, 27 Apr. 2022 One year later, Reed was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. — Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 27 Apr. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'penal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.