penal
adjective
Simple meaning
Related to the act of punishing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
peenuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpinəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of or relating to punishment
Serving as a place of punishment.
Subject to punishment; punishable.
Exorbitant.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of or relating to punishment
Used this way, penal is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public.
A penal institution where prisoners are exiled (often located on an island from which escape is difficult or impossible).
The legal code governing crimes and their punishment.
An institution where persons are confined for punishment and to protect the public.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.