Meaning & use
punish
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make someone suffer a penalty, such as a fine or a loss of freedom, because they did something wrong.
Grammar: Takes a person as object, often with for: punish him for lying.
Patterns
- punish someone for something
- punish someone by doing something
- punish someone with something
The school will punish students who cheat on exams.
Her parents punished her by taking away her phone.
He was punished for driving without a license.
verbtransitiveinformal
To treat someone or something roughly or harshly, causing damage or exhaustion.
Grammar: Takes an object: punish the engine, punish a weak team.
Patterns
- punish something
The steep hill punished our legs on the long bike ride.
The heavy rain punished the fields, flattening the crops.
The stronger team punished every mistake we made.
verbtransitivesport
To make something or someone suffer for a mistake, especially in sports or games, by gaining an advantage from it.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a mistake: punish an error.
Patterns
- punish a mistake
- punish someone for something
The striker punished the goalkeeper's mistake with a quick goal.
Good chess players punish careless moves.
Word forms
| third person singular | punishes |
|---|---|
| past tense | punished |
| past participle | punished |
| -ing form | punishing |
Common combinations
- punish severely
- The law punishes fraud severely.
- punish someone for
- They punished the boy for lying.
- punish a crime
- Courts must punish serious crimes.
- punish harshly
- Many felt the player was punished too harshly.
- be punished by law
- Theft is punished by law.
- punish mistakes
- Strong opponents punish mistakes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- penalize
- Penalize is more formal and usually refers to a rule breach, like a foul in sport or a late fee.
- discipline
- Discipline suggests correcting behavior through training or sanctions, and is gentler than punish.
- sentence
- Sentence is a legal word meaning a judge formally orders a penalty, while punish is general.
- chastise
- Chastise means to scold or criticize harshly, not necessarily to give a penalty.
Opposites
Word family
- punishment noun
- a penalty for wrongdoing
- punishing adjective
- very tiring or harsh
- punishable adjective
- able to be punished by law
- punitive adjective
- intended as a punishment
- unpunished adjective
- not punished
Commonly confused: punish or penalize?
punish vs penalize
Penalize is used for breaking a rule, as in a foul in a game, while punish is broader and often moral.
Practice
The teacher decided not to ___ the whole class for what one student had done.
Choose one answer.
Punish fits because the teacher wishes to avoid giving a penalty to everyone. Reward and praise are positive, and excuse does not match decided not to for the whole class.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “punish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.