Meaning & use
wrist slap
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A punishment or criticism that is very mild and not serious.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'a' or in the plural: 'They gave him a wrist slap.'
Patterns
- a wrist slap for someone
- give someone a wrist slap
- get a wrist slap
The company received a wrist slap for breaking safety rules, just a small fine.
Many people thought the sentence was a wrist slap, not real justice.
He expected a wrist slap, but instead lost his job.
Word forms
| plural | wrist slaps |
|---|
Common combinations
- give someone a wrist slap
- The judge gave the company a wrist slap with a tiny fine.
- a wrist slap for something
- He got a wrist slap for being late again.
- just a wrist slap
- The penalty was just a wrist slap; it didn't stop the cheating.
- receive a wrist slap
- The star received a wrist slap from the league but no suspension.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slap on the wrist
- The more common idiom with the same meaning; 'wrist slap' is a less frequent variant.
- token punishment
- More formal; stresses that the punishment is only for show.
- light penalty
- Neutral and general; can be used in official contexts.
Opposites
Commonly confused: wrist slap or slap on the wrist?
wrist slap vs slap on the wrist
The usual phrase is 'a slap on the wrist', not 'a wrist slap'. Both mean a mild punishment, but 'slap on the wrist' is far more common.
Practice
The corrupt official was given only a small fine. Many people said it was just a ______.
Choose one answer.
'Wrist slap' is the correct noun phrase for a mild punishment. 'Slap wrist' is not a standard phrase, and 'slapped wrist' would be a verb phrase, not a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wrist slap”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.