1
as in fine
a sum of money to be paid as a punishment the penalty for speeding is $10 for every mile over the speed limit

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2
3
as in disadvantage
the negative result caused by something that creates difficulty for achieving success suffered the penalty of his decision to leave school without graduating

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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 penalty Zentner ranked seventh of goalkeepers for the total number of defensive actions outside his penalty area last season. Beren Cross, New York Times, 7 July 2025 The agency enforces a zero-tolerance policy for unruly conduct, carrying the potential for civil penalties and criminal charges, depending on the incident severity. Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 July 2025 The stewards noted the controversial incident and hit the McLaren driver with the penalty that cost him the race. Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 6 July 2025 There’s no legitimate reason businesses need to be shelling out money for lawyers and civil penalties over such things. The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 25 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for penalty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penalty
Noun
  • Anyone found in violation of the measure could have to pay the state as much as $10,000 in fines.
    Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, 7 July 2025
  • Apple has now formally appealed one of its latest fines in Europe connected to its digital marketplace.
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 7 July 2025
Noun
  • Mackenzie sued, arguing that under the Constitution, her American birth gave her citizenship as a right, not a privilege, to be removed only as punishment for a crime or through voluntary expatriation.
    Marcia Biederman, Hartford Courant, 13 July 2025
  • Washington said the piece seemed to be urging the Trump administration to take the investigation to the next level, the Department of Justice, which could levy punishments against the university.
    Katherine Mangan, ProPublica, 11 July 2025
Noun
  • Walking away entirely from UNEP would put us at a disadvantage.
    Kristen Edgreen Kaufman, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
  • Some of the female immune advantage may be male immune disadvantage, and while it’s accepted that hormones affect immunity, determining to what degree is an ongoing research question.
    Starre Vartan, CNN Money, 7 July 2025
Noun
  • Arriving in 2014 – after earning the wrath of the Egyptian government for covering the Arab Spring as a freelance journalist – one of Greater Cincinnati’s newest immigration detainees has lived in Oregon, Chicago and Cincinnati.
    Patricia Gallagher Newberry, The Enquirer, 11 July 2025
  • Democrats weren’t the only ones to feel the wrath of Minaj on Tuesday.
    Michael Saponara, Billboard, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • Crunching some numbers, that’s a seventh of the total $175 billion cost the White House administration has billed for the project — whose overall expense and viability lawmakers and analysts have repeatedly questioned — in a short stretch.
    Ruxandra Iordache, CNBC, 4 July 2025
  • In addition to the tax cuts, businesses (employers) will be permitted to continue writing off equipment costs and expenses in the first year of purchase.
    Terina Allen, Forbes.com, 4 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Penalty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penalty. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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