self-punishment

noun

self-pun·​ish·​ment ˌself-ˈpə-nish-mənt 

: the act of punishing oneself

Leaving early to train for an Ironman triathlon—a masterwork of self-punishment—is, however, deeply respected.

—Kyle Smith

Life was hard enough on me without adding the burden of additional self-punishment.

—Ann Finnie

Examples of self-punishment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In one scene, Cathy asks her longtime maid, Nelly, to pull her corset tighter as a sort of self-punishment, and as her skin curled grotesquely beneath the corset strings onscreen, an older couple stood up and left the theater. — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2026

Peppers dropped to do pushups on the sideline as a form of self-punishment after dropping Maye's only incompletion. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 July 2025

In a religious context, disability was often seen as a punishment from God or a way to test one’s sense of repentance via self-punishment. — Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine, 16 May 2025

The film follows a man living in self-punishment after a fatal car accident who finds redemption through his relationship with his deceased friend’s young son. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 20 Jan. 2025

The effort to exonerate herself in her own mind leads her to rituals of exertion and self-punishment. — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2024

Sure, the average man probably wouldn’t eat an entire bar of soap in the middle of a group hang as a form of self-punishment for violating bro code, but who among us doesn’t want to be accepted? — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1586, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for self-punishment

• punishment

Medical Definition

self-punishment

noun

self-pun·​ish·​ment -ˈpən-ish-mənt 

: punishment of oneself

masochistic self-punishment