How to Use punitive in a Sentence

punitive

adjective

• Lobbyists complain that the bill would impose punitive taxes on the industry.
• The federal government will take punitive action against the company that polluted the river.
• The fall from third to fourth isn't too punitive - the fourth-worst record has a 48.1% shot at a top four pick.
  — Rahat Huq, Chron, 7 Feb. 2022
• That may take some of the punitive bite from the Western sanctions.
  — Allison Morrow, CNN, 2 Mar. 2022
• To put an end to the punitive drills, the teen had to do one thing: eat a pepperoni pizza.
  — Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2022
• The failure-to-pay penalty is less punitive than the one for failing to file.
  — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2022
• But the program isn't punitive, and these case managers aren't there to remove a child.
  — Holly V. Hays, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Apr. 2021
• But the punitive award wasn’t the highest Bellis could have imposed.
  — Laurel Calkins, Fortune, 10 Nov. 2022
• Newsom’s order opened the door for more punitive actions across the state.
  — Deyanira Nevárez Martínez, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2024
• Just in time for the 2025 prep races, Churchill Downs instituted a punitive tweak to the point system.
  — Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
• Extreme punitive measures The hijab has long been a point of contention in Iran.
  — Celine Alkhaldi, CNN, 2 Aug. 2023
• This drama could hardly have played out in a worse place; the city has endured some of the world's most punitive lockdowns.
  — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 11 Jan. 2022
• The penalty for moving the Spurs would be punitive, according to the agreement.
  — Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, 21 June 2021
• The process is not punitive and not designed to shame those facing a criminal charge.
  — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 2 Jan. 2025
• Barring you from the house is a serious case of punitive excess.
  — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023
• But punitive measures hardly seem to have slowed their roll.
  — Adriana Lee, WWD, 4 Nov. 2024
• One justice, Mike Bolin, urged the Legislature to make the law more punitive.
  — al, 12 Jan. 2022
• The jurors never discussed the punitive award, so Svitenko does not know what that verdict would have been.
  — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 5 Feb. 2025
• The civil suit is asking for $100 million in damages and a punitive award of up to $1 billion.
  — NBC News, 1 June 2021
• In a punitive culture, teams walk on eggshells to avoid making mistakes.
  — John Hall, Forbes, 6 June 2021
• In the Senate, the punitive measure has been used more sparingly.
  — Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2025
• Whether his actions will in some way quell the calls for punitive action to be taken against him is unclear.
  — Peter Marks, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Apr. 2021
• In Georgia, 75% of proceeds from punitive damage verdicts go to the state.
  — Robert Burnson, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Aug. 2022
• Wall Street had been on edge, looking for any sign that Trump might shift his approach to his punitive tariffs.
  — John Towfighi, David Goldman and Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 9 Apr. 2025
• None of the officers were removed from their jobs, and the reprimands were non-punitive, the spokesperson said.
  — Andrew Dyer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Oct. 2022
• This was just the latest of a series of punitive measures meant to discourage refugees.
  — Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022
• The court struck down Jim Crow laws, expanded the franchise, and erected guardrails to constrain the punitive machinery of the state.
  — Ian MacDougall, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022
• Her punitive response to the breakup is a different story, though, and strikes me as the cherry on the Jack’s-good-judgment sundae.
  — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 28 June 2023
• The 7th Circuit sent the case back to the trial court to determine whether the ordinance is also punitive.
  — Bruce Vielmetti, Journal Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2022
• Many women left the punitive existence of domestic servitude and escaped to the booming city by the sea.
  — Claire Hoffman, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2025