as in correctional
inflicting, involving, or serving as punishment
any misbehavior was immediately met with a punitive response the company had to pay a million dollars in punitive damages
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Recent Examples of punitive
Still employed, but no raise The mayor’s colleagues wisely rejected that punitive step, and commissioners Steve Glassman and John Herbst then joined the mayor in rejecting a 3% merit pay raise for Williams.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
His persistence in teaching, even under Lomax’s punitive schedules, shows his resilience.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
With the exception of the punitive visit to the bank, Suzanna’s grandmother does not discuss her daughter’s crime or her reasons for committing it.
—Literary Hub, 7 May 2026
These practices included punitive poll taxes, literacy tests and other measures.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for punitive
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
His persistence in teaching, even under Lomax’s punitive schedules, shows his resilience.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
With the exception of the punitive visit to the bank, Suzanna’s grandmother does not discuss her daughter’s crime or her reasons for committing it.
—Literary Hub, 7 May 2026
These practices included punitive poll taxes, literacy tests and other measures.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for punitive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punitive
Adjective
-
In one instance, an execution was called off after correctional officers had already strapped Glossip to a gurney and begun preparing to give him a lethal injection.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
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The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals this week ruled against a White correctional officer who alleged DEI training from the Colorado Department of Corrections created a racially hostile work environment.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
12 May 2026
Adjective
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The charges included seven counts of falsifying a record and one felony count of abuse of a resident of a penal facility.—
Nichole Manna,
ProPublica,
28 Apr. 2026
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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
Adjective
-
For many, a no-phone vacation is less an indulgence than a corrective.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
16 May 2026
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Former Representative Elizabeth Holtzman, one of the co-authors, has portrayed the act as a corrective to the moral failure of refusing entry to many Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.—
Annie Hylton,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Punitive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punitive. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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