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
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 punishment
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images But the letter to Lula goes further than the rest, by imposing a new U.S. import tax rate explicitly as a punishment for a country engaging in internal political and legal affairs that Trump dislikes.
—
Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 9 July 2025
In my childhood, such boldness would have earned a swift punishment.
—Richard Polak, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
Trump frames tariffs as a fee paid by other countries — a sort of punishment for a trade imbalance.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 8 July 2025
Durrett doesn't believe that harsher punishments are the best way to address this problem, even if many in the community would argue otherwise.
—Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for punishment
Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 9 July 2025
In my childhood, such boldness would have earned a swift punishment.
—Richard Polak, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
Trump frames tariffs as a fee paid by other countries — a sort of punishment for a trade imbalance.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 8 July 2025
Durrett doesn't believe that harsher punishments are the best way to address this problem, even if many in the community would argue otherwise.
—Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for punishment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punishment
Noun
-
Additional penalties could be added per violation if a tenant is older than 65 or is disabled.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 July 2025
-
This transition helped the company avoid a potential IRS audit, preventing costly penalties and giving them peace of mind.—
Loran Armstrong,
Forbes.com,
8 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
Cite this Entry
“Punishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punishment. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share