unpunished

adjective

un·​pun·​ished ˌən-ˈpə-nisht How to pronounce unpunished (audio)
: not punished
an unpunished criminal/crime
an offense that should not be allowed to go unpunished

Examples of unpunished in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Letting a defense leave someone so open and that going unpunished isn’t ideal. Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024 Close to 90% of all crimes are never reported and 9 in 10 homicides go unpunished. Ieva Jusionyte, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024 The Mexican justice system has a large backlog of cases, contributing to the massive rate of unpunished crimes (more than 98% ) as people whose guilt has not been proven end up incarcerated. Albinson Linares, NBC News, 9 Jan. 2024 No literary justice here: the saboteurs live on to fight another day, unpunished. Christopher Ketcham, Harper's Magazine, 1 Nov. 2023 The heinous disregard for Ms. Mooney’s life will not go unpunished. Andy Rose, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024 This spike in settler violence against Palestinians – which has gone largely unpunished by Israeli authorities – has prompted the US to take a harder stance. Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024 The same is true in other places where gendered violence tends to go unpunished. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024 The remark did not go unpunished and Tavecchio was banned for six months from FIFA leadership roles. Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, 3 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unpunished.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unpunished was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near unpunished

Cite this Entry

“Unpunished.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unpunished. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on unpunished

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!