The meaning of PUNITIVE is inflicting, involving, or aiming at punishment. How to use punitive in a sentence. Punitive and the Law.

PUNITIVE definition: serving for, concerned with, or inflicting punishment. See examples of punitive used in a sentence.

PUNITIVE definition: 1. intended as a punishment: 2. used to describe costs that are so high they are difficult to pay…. Learn more.

Definition of punitive adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

relating to, involving, or with the intention of inflicting punishment: a punitive expedition.

punitive, adj. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary

Punitive describes inflicting a punishment. If someone takes punitive action against you, you'll probably whine and complain — you're in trouble and you're about to get punished.

Dec 10, 2025 · punitive (comparative more punitive, superlative most punitive) (law, military) Inflicting punishment; punishing. synonym Synonym: (archaic) punitory Beijing imposed punitive sanctions on …

PUNITIVE meaning: 1 : intended to punish someone or something; 2 : extremely or unfairly severe or high

punitive in British English (ˈpjuːnɪtɪv ) or less commonly punitory (ˈpjuːnɪtərɪ , -trɪ ) adjective relating to, involving, or with the intention of inflicting punishment