as in punitive
inflicting, involving, or serving as punishment
Australia was once a penal colony
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Recent Examples of penal
Missing fairway’s off the tee is more penal at Bay Hill.
—
Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Even in the most incarcerated country in the world, the penal system is, for many people, experienced through mass media representations, whether fictional or documentary.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The corpus of crime-and-punishment imagery that emerged during this era tended to feature sensational events and high-profile lawbreakers rather than emphasizing the uniform anonymity that would increasingly characterize the new penal system and the majority of inmates.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
Foucault articulated the judicial and penal shifts from public punishment to private regulation, drawing particular attention to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, an architectural concretization of the unseen but ever-present authority of the state.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penal
Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Even in the most incarcerated country in the world, the penal system is, for many people, experienced through mass media representations, whether fictional or documentary.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The corpus of crime-and-punishment imagery that emerged during this era tended to feature sensational events and high-profile lawbreakers rather than emphasizing the uniform anonymity that would increasingly characterize the new penal system and the majority of inmates.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
Foucault articulated the judicial and penal shifts from public punishment to private regulation, drawing particular attention to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, an architectural concretization of the unseen but ever-present authority of the state.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penal
punitive
Adjective
-
The European Union targets leading American companies with rules, fines, and other punitive actions that undermine their ability to do business in EU countries and deliver technologies to their citizens and small businesses.—
Christopher Hale,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
-
Regulation is not something to fear Instinctively, when any type of new regulation comes into force, particularly one that potentially involves fines and other punitive measures, fear and trepidation tend to be the most common reactions off the bat.—
Gus Alexiou,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Penal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penal. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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