as in penalized
to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime
the child was punished for breaking dishes on purpose if caught, the thief will be severely punished
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of punished
While teams often jump the gun, the Heat likely avoid being tagged as a repeat offense, having been punished by the league for such early contact with Kyle Lowry during 2021 free agency.
—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
26 June 2026
Anthropic wants firms like Alibaba punished Alibaba is already preparing to clash with Trump, though.
—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
25 June 2026
People who break the law should be investigated, arrested, tried and, if convicted, punished.
—
Jon Duffy,
Mercury News,
25 June 2026
Though initially pursued by the Furies, Orestes was not ultimately punished for his crime.
—
Zehra Jumabhoy,
Artforum,
25 June 2026
And now she's been punished for it.
—
Ian Miller Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
24 June 2026
Conglomerates are often punished by public markets.
—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
24 June 2026
Mexico punished the Czech Republic’s sloppiness with aplomb after weathering their opponents’ good start, scoring all three goals in the second half.
—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
But the players were not punished.
—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
19 June 2026
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
26 June 2026
Anthropic wants firms like Alibaba punished Alibaba is already preparing to clash with Trump, though.
—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
25 June 2026
People who break the law should be investigated, arrested, tried and, if convicted, punished.
—
Jon Duffy,
Mercury News,
25 June 2026
Though initially pursued by the Furies, Orestes was not ultimately punished for his crime.
—
Zehra Jumabhoy,
Artforum,
25 June 2026
And now she's been punished for it.
—
Ian Miller Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
24 June 2026
Conglomerates are often punished by public markets.
—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
24 June 2026
Mexico punished the Czech Republic’s sloppiness with aplomb after weathering their opponents’ good start, scoring all three goals in the second half.
—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
But the players were not punished.
—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
19 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punished
Verb
-
Market sentiment has penalized legacy automakers for slowing EV adoption, but these weren't profitable anyway.
-
The fight was stopped between rounds, but fighters shouldn't be shamed or penalized for knowing when to bow out.
Verb
-
Abdennebi Bioui, a construction tycoon and former lawmaker with the co-governing Authenticity and Modernity Party, or PAM, who headed a Regional Council, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $15,989.
-
In Florida, you can be fined for putting garbage in the wrong place.
Verb
-
She was ultimately sentenced to life in prison with an eligibility for parole after 15 years served.
-
Benjamin Song, who shot an Alvarado Police Department officer in the neck during the July 4 incident at Prairieland Detention Center outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was sentenced to a century behind bars, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY.
Verb
-
If convicted as charged, Wilburn faces up to 14 years in prison, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told CNN.
-
Janice Nix, 67, of South London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after she was convicted of killing her 5-year-old stepdaughter in June 1978 by forcing the girl into a scalding-hot bath as a punishment.
Verb
-
Greenspan was also criticized for enacting policies that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis that led to the recession at the end of the 2000s.
-
The Federal Reserve’s steadfast period of low interest rates in the 2000s was criticized as contributing to a housing bubble in the 2000s, followed by the mortgage crisis of 2007 and the Great Recession the following year.
Verb
-
As these generative tools take over more of the mechanical and even analytical work, the humans working alongside them have to be disciplined to catch errors, ask the right questions and push back when something is off.
-
In this way, nature and society could each be perfectly disciplined, guided by human intervention toward near-unimaginable efficiency.
Verb
-
On Thursday, Vance chastised Israeli officials who were publicly criticizing the agreement.
-
An April 1959 editorial in The Times chastised residents who implied the Friends were trying to enrich themselves.
Verb
-
Thankfully, most causes of yellowing geranium leaves are easily corrected.
-
The story has been corrected to show that the proper name of the organization is the American Academy of Pediatrics rather than the American Association of Pediatrics.
Cite this Entry
“Punished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punished. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
