as in to punish
to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime
the player was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct
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Recent Examples of penalize
The same behavior—sharing vulnerability, showing emotion, challenging consensus—can be praised or penalized depending on who’s doing it.
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Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
Does a production like that get penalized for not confining filming to American locations?
—Chris Lee, Vulture, 5 May 2025
The judge’s logic—penalizing him for not being there—made little sense.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 2 May 2025
If an umpire calls a pitch a strike that misses the plate but hits that buffer zone, the buffer means he isn’t penalized for an incorrect call.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for penalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penalize
punish
Verb
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The national opioid settlements punished pharmaceutical manufacturers and some pharmacies for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic, which began with prescription painkillers and ultimately morphed into fentanyl.—
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And will Joe be punished by the jury for voting out his allies?—
Cite this Entry
“Penalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penalize. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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