SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
punitive
adjective
Intended to impose punishment or a penalty.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Intended as punishment
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topPunitive identifies a purpose of imposing a penalty. Harsh describes severity, while deterrent emphasizes discouraging future conduct.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See punitive in use
The committee rejected a punitive response in favor of correcting the underlying process.
A separate punitive fine is intended to penalize an officer for repeatedly attaching unauthorized locks despite a clear instruction to stop.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license