Meaning & use
retribution
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Meaning
noununcountable
Punishment inflicted on someone as deserved payback for a wrong or criminal act they committed.
Grammar: Usually uncountable with no plural: fear retribution; often followed by for.
Patterns
- retribution for something
- seek/demand retribution
- fear retribution
- divine retribution
The attack was swift retribution for the earlier bombing.
Victims' families demanded retribution for the crime.
She feared retribution if she reported the fraud.
Common combinations
- retribution for something
- He demanded retribution for the damage to his property.
- demand retribution
- The protesters demanded retribution for the killings.
- fear retribution
- Witnesses stayed silent because they feared retribution.
- divine retribution
- In the poem, the flood is portrayed as divine retribution.
- threat of retribution
- He spoke out despite threats of retribution.
Synonyms and how they differ
- punishment
- Punishment is the general word for a penalty; retribution adds the idea that it is deserved payback.
- retaliation
- Retaliation is hitting back by any means; retribution claims moral rightness and justice.
- vengeance
- Vengeance is emotional and personal, while retribution is framed as justice served.
Opposites
Word family
- retributive adjective
- Relating to deserved punishment: retributive justice.
Commonly confused: retribution or revenge? retribution or reprisal?
retribution vs revenge
Revenge is driven by personal anger and the wish to hurt back, while retribution is presented as fair, deserved punishment.
retribution vs reprisal
A reprisal is a specific retaliatory act, often in war or politics; retribution is the broader principle of deserved punishment.
Practice
The gang's former members lived in constant fear of ______ after they testified in court.
Choose one answer.
Retribution means deserved punishment for a wrong, which fits fearing payback after testifying. Distribution means giving things out, contribution means giving something, and attribution means naming a cause or source.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “retribution”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.