pu·ni·to·ry

(pyo͞o′nĭ-tôr′ē)

adj.

Inflicting or intended to inflict punishment.

[From Latin pūnītus, from past participle of pūnīre, to punish; see punish.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

punitory - inflicting punishment; "punitive justice"; "punitive damages"

punitive

punitory

adjective

Inflicting or aiming to inflict punishment:

disciplinary, punishing, punitive.

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References in periodicals archive

(85) The appellate court said the evidence proved the slander to be "grossly malicious" and allowed "what have been called exemplary, vindictive or punitory damages." (86) But the court denied attorneys' fees and ordered a new trial.

Detecting good public policy rationales for the American rule: a response to the ill-conceived calls for "loser pays" rules

(129) In 1885, for example, the Texas Supreme Court recognized that "[i]t may be, and is, most likely, true that the whole doctrine of punitory or exemplary damages has its foundation ...

Two wrongs do not make a right: reconsidering the application of comparative fault to punitive damage awards

is far more liable to be abused, to the prejudice of liberty, than the punitory [sic] function; for there is hardly any part of the legitimate exercise of freedom of action and a human being which would not admit of being represented, and fairly, too, as increasing the facilities for some form or other of delinquency.

Paternalism, obesity, and tolerable levels of risk

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