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
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
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Without visibility, companies risk blind spots that could derail multimillion-dollar deals or trigger regulatory penalties.—
Pukar Hamal,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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The state has executed 594 inmates in the modern death penalty era (since 1976).—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Anyone who dared challenge the prevailing narrative faced the wrath of a ravenous cancel culture.—
David Oliver,
USA Today,
22 July 2025
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That patience has only earned Powell the president’s wrath.—
Paolo Confino,
Fortune,
16 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Punishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/punishment. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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