Meanings
comparative more punitive · superlative most punitive
- governmentInflicting punishment; punishing.
Beijing imposed punitive sanctions on Canada.
3 more examples
The jury awarded $10,000 in punitive damages.
The council took punitive measures against poachers.
But Judge Alex W. Gabert, in a Rio Grande City courtroom, ordered the punitive damage reduced to conform to a 2003 Texas law that caps punitive damages at twice the amount of economic damages — lost pay — and up to $750,000 on top of noneconomic damages.
2006 December 22, “Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Jul 2022, retrieved 07 Jun 2011Synonyms: castigatory, punitory, castigatory, punishmental, punitory, vindicatory, vindictive
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveInflicting punishment; punishing.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveinflicting punishment
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinpūnitīvus
- Middle Frenchpunitif
- Englishpunitive
From Middle French punitif, from Medieval Latin pūnitīvus, from pūniō (“to punish”).
More words from Middle French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian наказателен
- наказателен (nakazatelen)punishing
Catalan punitiu
- punitiupunishing
Czech trestný
- trestnýpunishing
Esperanto puna
- punapunishing
French punitif
- punitifpunishing
German strafend, Straf-
- strafendpunishing
- Straf-punishing
Greek ποινικός
- ποινικός (poinikós)punishing
Italian punitivo
- punitivopunishing
Polish karny
- karnypunishing
Portuguese punitivo
- punitivopunishing
Romanian punitiv
- punitivpunishing
Russian кара́тельный
- кара́тельный (karátelʹnyj)punishing
Spanish punitivo
- punitivopunishing
Swedish straff-
- straff-punishing
Ukrainian кара́льний
- кара́льний (karálʹnyj)punishing
Welsh cosbol
- cosbolpunishing
Cite this entry
punitive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punitive
“punitive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punitive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “punitive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punitive.
Source: punitive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.