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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Recent Examples of punishment
Kunzweiler, a phlegmatic, gray-haired career prosecutor a generation older, prized the finality of a jury verdict — and the punishment that went with it.
—
Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 24 Mar. 2026
Despite losing senior leadership and absorbing enormous punishment from US and Israeli strikes, Iran has effectively held the global economy hostage through the Strait of Hormuz.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2026
Those messages, discovered after FBI agents seized officers’ phones in March 2021, showed how dozens of officers used racist, sexist and homophobic language and feared no punishment from supervisors, some of whom were on the text threads.
—Aldo Toledo, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Mar. 2026
Some bloggers reported this week, citing sources on the front lines, that Russian soldiers were being told to remove Telegram from their phones or face punishment.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 22 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for punishment
Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 24 Mar. 2026
Despite losing senior leadership and absorbing enormous punishment from US and Israeli strikes, Iran has effectively held the global economy hostage through the Strait of Hormuz.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2026
Those messages, discovered after FBI agents seized officers’ phones in March 2021, showed how dozens of officers used racist, sexist and homophobic language and feared no punishment from supervisors, some of whom were on the text threads.
—Aldo Toledo, San Francisco Chronicle, 24 Mar. 2026
Some bloggers reported this week, citing sources on the front lines, that Russian soldiers were being told to remove Telegram from their phones or face punishment.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 22 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for punishment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for punishment
Noun
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The city agreed, reducing maximum e-bike speeds to 15 mph on city trails, prohibiting e-bikes on sidewalks and imposing penalties.—
Sarah Raza,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
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The Jackets took another penalty with 41 seconds left and the B’s tied it with 11 seconds left in regulation.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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My refusal to accept his drinking has led him to cast his wrath upon me on occasion.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Washington Post,
31 Mar. 2026
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Mullin will also face congressional Democrats’ wrath as lawmakers on Capitol Hill have already begun to investigate DHS for the massive contracts to individuals and companies that were inexperienced, had connections to Noem’s staff, or contained other irregularities.—
Anna Giaritelli,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Punishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punishment. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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