punitive
adjective
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Definition of punitive
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Synonyms & Antonyms for punitive
Synonyms
castigating, chastening, chastising, correcting, correctional, corrective, disciplinary, disciplining, penal, penalizing
Antonyms
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Examples of punitive in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Some, like Go365, are obviously punitive, levying up to thousands of dollars in fines on workers who refuse to participate in wellness campaigns or fail to meet certain biometric measures of health. — Lena Solow, The New Republic, "The Scourge of Worker Wellness Programs," 2 Sep. 2019 All judgments or awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket damages (excluding attorneys’ fees) associated with participation in this Promotion and shall not include any indirect, punitive, incidental and/or consequential damages. 14. — Kwasi Boadi, Billboard, ""The Crowd Control Contest" Sponsored by Billboard, a division of MRC Media, LLC ("Sponsor")," 24 Aug. 2019 The threat of punitive measures by the U.S. for buying Iranian oil has discouraged many countries from purchasing it, though the oil itself is not subject to any U.N. or international sanctions. — Washington Post, "Iranian tanker sought by US heading toward Greece," 19 Aug. 2019 Experts say the administration has not shown great vision in adopting strategies that do not rely on sanctions or separating punitive foreign policy decisions from purely trade issues, such as the spat with the Chinese over tariffs. — Matthew Lee, The Denver Post, "Trump wields sanctions hammer; experts wonder to what end," 18 Aug. 2019 While the United States insists that medicines and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions, restrictions on trade have made many banks and companies across the world hesitant to do business with Iran, fearing punitive measures from Washington. — Mohammad Nasiri, chicagotribune.com, "Iran says say ramped-up American sanctions are blocking access to badly needed medicine," 30 July 2019 In 1714, British Parliament passed the Riot Act, which allowed authorities to take punitive measures against any group of 12 or more people who refused to disperse. — Ben Zimmer, WSJ, "Was Stonewall a ‘Riot’? A Term for Violent Acts Has Spurred Its Own Revolt," 28 June 2019 And companies like Uber require drivers to maintain such high ratings that, in effect, any review that isn’t maximally ecstatic is a request for punitive measures. — Joshua Brustein, latimes.com, "The downside of working for an algorithm," 26 June 2019 These efforts accelerated in June when Trump threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Mexico. — Kirk Semple, BostonGlobe.com, "Overflowing toilets, bedbugs and high heat: Inside Mexico’s migrant detention centers," 3 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'punitive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for punitive
punitive
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of punitive
See the full definition for punitive in the English Language Learners Dictionary
punitive
adjective
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Legal Definition of punitive
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