punish
gb/pˈʌnɪʃ/ us/pˈʌnɪʃ/
B1
Anglais
~ 4700
Sens
0 sens
Verbe
B1
action
1
Make someone suffer for wrongdoing
To make someone suffer because they did something wrong or broke a rule.
Schéma d’usage :
to punish [someone] for [something]
Erreur fréquente :
Learners sometimes confuse 'punish' with 'hurt'. 'Punish' is about giving a penalty for bad behavior, not just causing pain without reason.
Synonymes
penalize (More formal; often used in legal, sports, or official contexts.)
|
discipline (Often used for correcting children or subordinates; can imply guidance as well as punishment.)
Antonymes
reward (The opposite action of giving something good for good behavior instead of causing suffering for bad behavior.)
Collocations
punish severely
|punish harshly
|punish offenders
|punish crime
|punish wrongdoing
Thèmes
law
|discipline
|behavior
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- The school decided to punish the students who cheated on the exam.
- The government will punish anyone caught smuggling goods.
- Parents sometimes punish their children by taking away privileges.
- The judge punished the company for violating safety regulations.
Exemples pédagogiques
- The teacher will punish the boy for hitting another student.
- My parents punish me when I lie.
- The police punish people who break the law.
- We must punish bad actions to keep order.
Verbe
B2
action
2
Cause someone to suffer consequences
To make someone have bad results because of what they did.
Schéma d’usage :
to punish [someone] by [doing something]
Synonymes
penalize (Can be interchangeable in some contexts; often used in formal or official situations.)
Antonymes
benefit (To give an advantage or good result instead of a negative one.)
Collocations
punish economically
|punish politically
|punish financially
Thèmes
consequences
|behavior
|core_vocabulary
Exemples
- The voters punished the mayor by not re-electing her.
- The market punished the company for its poor earnings report.
- History will punish those who ignore human rights abuses.
Exemples pédagogiques
- The team was punished by losing their best player.
- The boss punished him by giving him more work.
- The store punished customers by raising prices.
Grammaire
Forme canonique
punish
API
GB/pˈʌnɪʃ/
US/pˈʌnɪʃ/
Syllabes et accentuation
pun - ish (2 syllabes)
Stress on 1st syllable (pun)
Formes du mot
Verb
- Base: punish
- 3rd Person Singular: punishes
- Present Participle: punishing
- Past: punished
Famille de mots
Forms
punishes
verb
punishing
verb
punished
verb
Core family
punishment
noun B1
punishable
adjective
Related words
punitive
adjective C1
punisher
noun
Negative and opposite forms
unpunished
adjective
Advanced or less common
impunity
noun C1
punitively
adverb C1
Expressions
punish oneself
1/pˈʌnɪʃ wˌʌnsˈɛlf/
fixed phrase
Make oneself suffer for guilt
To make yourself feel bad or suffer because you think you did something wrong.
Exemples
- She kept punishing herself for a mistake she made years ago.
- Stop punishing yourself over something you couldn't control.
punish with impunity
1/pˈʌnɪʃ wˈɪθ ɪmpjˈunɪti/
fixed phrase
formal
Punish without fear of reprisal
To punish someone without any risk of being punished yourself.
Exemples
- The regime punishes dissenters with impunity.
- No one should be able to punish others with impunity.