as in punitive
inflicting, involving, or serving as punishment
Australia was once a penal colony
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Recent Examples of penal
Missing fairway’s off the tee is more penal at Bay Hill.
—
Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Even in the most incarcerated country in the world, the penal system is, for many people, experienced through mass media representations, whether fictional or documentary.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The corpus of crime-and-punishment imagery that emerged during this era tended to feature sensational events and high-profile lawbreakers rather than emphasizing the uniform anonymity that would increasingly characterize the new penal system and the majority of inmates.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
Foucault articulated the judicial and penal shifts from public punishment to private regulation, drawing particular attention to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, an architectural concretization of the unseen but ever-present authority of the state.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penal
Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Even in the most incarcerated country in the world, the penal system is, for many people, experienced through mass media representations, whether fictional or documentary.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The corpus of crime-and-punishment imagery that emerged during this era tended to feature sensational events and high-profile lawbreakers rather than emphasizing the uniform anonymity that would increasingly characterize the new penal system and the majority of inmates.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
Foucault articulated the judicial and penal shifts from public punishment to private regulation, drawing particular attention to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, an architectural concretization of the unseen but ever-present authority of the state.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penal
punitive
Adjective
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With a maximum rookie-scale contract extension slated to kick in for Mobley next season, Cleveland is set to find itself in the NBA's punitive second luxury tax apron.—
Alex Kirschenbaum,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 May 2025
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Still, if punitive policies towards Chinese international students persist, students may turn to alternative destinations, experts say.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Penal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penal. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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