punitive
adjective
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pyoonuhtivSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpjunətɪv
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
lawmilitary
Inflicting punishment
“The school replaced punitive measures with programs that teach students better behavior.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
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Word Family
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Compound terms
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Compensation in excess of actual damages (a form of punishment awarded in cases of malicious or willful misconduct).
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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.