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punishment

[puhn-ish-muhnt] / ˈpʌn ɪʃ mənt /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Punishment is when a parent acts out of a fear response whereas discipline is more thoughtful.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Punishment for that kind of act, which the BBC is unable to verify, would be severe.

From BBC • May 31, 2025

In the chapter “Except as a Punishment for Crime” — named for the exception to emancipation embedded in the 13th Amendment — Pfaelzer lays out the way California virtually invented the prison industrial complex.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2023

Guest: Mikhail Zygar, Russian journalist and author of the upcoming book, “War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky and the Path to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine”

From Slate • Jun. 26, 2023

“Special circumstances. Elysium for you. Punishment for your mother.”

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan




Vocabulary lists containing punishment


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