retributive

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.

“The best hope was their sticking together and fighting the illegal, retributive orders.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2025

Wednesday’s brief, according to the Post report, made other charges about the trial, saying the judge’s “closing remarks demonstrated that Mr. Smollett’s sentencing took on a personal retributive tone.”

From Washington Times • Mar. 2, 2023

The government pointed to the large backlog of criminal investigations and said it wanted to move away from a “lengthy pursuit of retributive justice.”

From Washington Post • Dec. 18, 2022

The ruling drew on the Eighth Amendment and common law, concluding that “such an execution has questionable retributive value, presents no example to others, and thus has no deterrence value, and simply offends humanity.”

From Slate • Oct. 24, 2022

I have gone to each officer of that Regiment demanding that they send a retributive expedition, but none evinces the slightest interest in the undertaking.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson