Synonyms of penal

penal

adjective

ˈpē-nᵊl 

as in punitive

inflicting, involving, or serving as punishment

Australia was once a penal colony

Synonyms & Similar Words

• punitive
• correctional
• disciplinary
• corrective
• correcting
• chastening
• disciplining
• penalizing
• retributive
• retaliatory
• revengeful
• chastising
• castigating
• vengeful
• wrathful
• retaliative
• retributory

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• compensatory
• nonpunitive
• exculpatory
• vindicating
• remitting
• exculpating
• pardoning
• exonerating
• commuting
• condoning
• absolving
• acquitting
• reprieving

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of penal

In the new South, one scrabbling to industrialize, business owners could now hire unpaid labor through the penal system. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2026

The Mexican Mafia was started in the 1950s at a juvenile jail and grew to an international criminal organization that controls smuggling, drug sales and extortion from inside California’s penal system. — ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026

By then, his tour of the federal penal system had taken him to the medium security penitentiary in Coleman, Florida. — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 13 Apr. 2026

Within the Moreton Bay area, a penal settlement for colonial recidivists was founded at Brisbane, followed by other penal establishments at Ipswich and on Stradbroke Island. — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026