penalize
verb
Simple meaning
Inflict punishment on.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pehnuhlyzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɛnəlaɪz
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.
verb
Impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
“The students were penalized for showing up late for class.”
transitivesports
To impose a handicap on.
transitive
To subject to a penalty, especially for the infringement of a rule or regulation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
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More ways to use penalize
- “The students were penalized for showing up late for class.”verb
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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.