Synonyms for punish
ˈpʌn ɪʃpun·ish

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 2 votes

1. punishverb

   Synonyms:
   castigate

2. punishverb

   To cause to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action.

   Synonyms:
   castigate

3. punishverb

   To cause great harm to. (a punishing blow)

   Synonyms:
   castigate

4. punishverb

   To dumb down severely or to the point of uselessness or near-uselessness.

   Synonyms:
   castigate

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 2 votes

1. punish

   Avenge and revenge, once close synonyms, are now far apart in meaning. To avenge is to visit some offense with punishment, in order to vindicate the righteous, or to uphold and illustrate the right by the suffering or destruction of the wicked. "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian," Acts vii, 24. To revenge is to inflict harm or suffering upon another through personal anger and resentment at something done to ourselves. Avenge is unselfish; revenge is selfish. Revenge, according to present usage, could not be said of God. To retaliate may be necessary for self-defense, without the idea of revenge. Compare REVENGE.

   Synonyms:
   avenge, retaliate, revenge, vindicate, visit

   Preposition:
   Avenge on or upon (rarely, avenge oneself of) a wrong-doer.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. punish

   Synonyms:
   chastise, castigate, chasten, correct, whip, scourge

   Antonyms:
   reward, recompense, remunerate, indemnify

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.2 / 5 votes

1. punish, penalize, penaliseverb

   impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on

   "The students were penalized for showing up late for class"; "we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again"

   Synonyms:
   penalize, penalise

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. punishverb

   Synonyms:
   chastise, castigate, lash, chasten, discipline, correct, scourge, whip

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. punishverb

   Synonyms:
   chastise, castigate, chasten, discipline

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "punish":

   punishing, penalise, penalize, sanction, punishment, suppress, chastise, flog, smite, criminalize, suppression, repress, penalties

Suggested Resources

1. punish

   Song lyrics by punish -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by punish on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use punish in a sentence?

1. Vice President Biden:

   Folks, I voted for a fence, I voted, unlike most Democrats -- and some of you won't like it -- I voted for 700 miles of fence, but, let me tell you, we can build a fence 40 stories high -- unless you change the dynamic in Mexico and -- and you will not like this, and -- punish American employers who knowingly violate the law when, in fact, they hire illegals. Unless you do those two things, all the rest is window dressing.

2. Liberty Institute attorney Michael Berry:

   This Navy official is using the ‘no contact’ order as a weapon to punish and humiliate a decorated military chaplain, to deny Chaplain Modder of the ability to minister to a grieving family and other sailors is deplorable.

3. Katey Alatalo:

   We're trying to turn this moment into a movement to improve the situation for junior scientists, we're too junior in the field to punish anybody, but we can tell people how to empower victims.

4. Publilius Syrus:

   It is folly to punish your neighbor by fire when you live next door.

5. Kishore Singh:

   This kind of bludgeoning must stop. China has a strong army but Indians will unite against them if they continue such attacks, the Chinese are using their brute force amid a pandemic, the world must stand with India to punish them.