Synonyms for punishment
ˈpʌn ɪʃ məntpun·ish·ment

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:3.4 / 7 votes

1. punishmentnoun

   Synonyms:
   punition, castigation, beating

   Antonyms:
   reward

2. punishmentnoun

   The act or process of punishing, imposing and/or applying a sanction.

   Synonyms:
   beating, castigation, punition

   Antonyms:
   reward

3. punishmentnoun

   A penalty to punish wrongdoing, especially for crime.

   Synonyms:
   beating, punition, castigation

   Antonyms:
   reward

4. punishmentnoun

   A suffering by pain or loss imposed as retribution

   Synonyms:
   castigation, punition, beating

   Antonyms:
   reward

5. punishmentnoun

   Any treatment or experience so harsh it feels like being punished; rough handling

   a vehicle that can take a lot of punishment

   Synonyms:
   beating, punition, castigation

   Antonyms:
   reward

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. punishment

   Synonyms:
   cruelty, hardness, harshness, implacability, justice, penalty, revenge, rigor, severity, sternness, vengeance

   Antonyms:
   benevolence, benignity, blessing, clemency, compassion, favor, forbearance, forgiveness, gentleness, grace, kindness, lenience, leniency, lenity, mercy, mildness, pardon, pardon, pity, tenderness

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:1.9 / 8 votes

1. punishment, penalty, penalization, penalisationnoun

   the act of punishing

   Synonyms:
   penalty, penalization, penalisation

Matched Categories

1. • Social Control

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. punishmentnoun

   Synonyms:
   chastisement, correction, discipline, penalty

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

1. punishmentnoun

   Synonyms:
   chastisement, castigation, scourging, discipline, penalty, visitation, retaliation, retribution, infliction

   Antonyms:
   immunity, impunity, acquittal, exoneration

   Associated words:
   penal, penology, punitive, penologist, penological, reprieve, commute, commutation, nemesis, connivance

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

1. List of paraphrases for "punishment":

   penalty, chastisement, sentence, sanction, penalties, punish, sentences, suppression, retribution, punishing, assent, sanctions, worth, death, repression, penalization, corporal, punishments, tangible, pity, sentencing, pena, penalisation

How to pronounce punishment?

How to say punishment in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use punishment in a sentence?

1. Robert G. Ingersoll:

   In nature there are neither rewards nor punishment - there are consequences.

2. Roy Gutterman:

   The answer to this is not punishment, which would run afoul of the First Amendment because this involves a public university. The answer is to counter the speech and confront the speech. This could be the subject of campus-wide discussions.

3. Jay Sekulow:

   Exposing private details about individuals is not a power Congress holds, publicly releasing information about individuals is a form of punishment.

4. Menander:

   When you see a man elated with pride, glorying in his riches and high descent, rising even above fortune, look out for his speedy punishment; for he is only raised the higher that he may fall with a heavier crash.

5. Jack Markell:

   The use of capital punishment is an instrument of imperfect justice that doesn't make us any safer, it is my hope that today's decision will mean that we never see another death sentence in our state.