as in penalty
suffering, loss, or hardship imposed in response to a crime or offense
he is serving five years in prison as punishment for aggravated assault
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of punishment
The punishment verdict comes one day after jurors found Raunaq Alam guilty of criminal mischief but not a hate crime for spray-painting anti-Israel graffiti on a wall at the Uncommon Church in Euless.
—
Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Sep. 2025
Coup and punishments Plotting a coup is risky business.
—Joe Wright, The Conversation, 12 Sep. 2025
On the plus side, Silksong never extracts the ultimate punishment by sending you all the way back to the start of the game.
—ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2025
But the report also suggests that the community of legal hunters can play a role in both deterrence and punishment.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for punishment
Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Sep. 2025
Coup and punishments Plotting a coup is risky business.
—Joe Wright, The Conversation, 12 Sep. 2025
On the plus side, Silksong never extracts the ultimate punishment by sending you all the way back to the start of the game.
—ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2025
But the report also suggests that the community of legal hunters can play a role in both deterrence and punishment.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for punishment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punishment
Noun
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While New York authorities brought murder charges against Mangione that don’t carry a potential death penalty, federal prosecutors have charged him with using a firearm to commit murder and are seeking the death penalty in their case.—
Nick Penzenstadler,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
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Bringing a firearm through a checkpoint, even accidentally, can lead to criminal charges, civil penalties of up to $15,000 and the loss of TSA PreCheck eligibility.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Pols of all stripes knew how popular PBS and NPR were, and ultimately didn’t want to face the wrath of angry constituents wondering where Big Bird went.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
12 Sep. 2025
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The Detroit Tigers took the entire Yankees pitching staff to school for the second game in a row on Wednesday, and Doval felt their wrath as much as anyone.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Punishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punishment. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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