1
as in fine
a sum of money to be paid as a punishment
the penalty for speeding is $10 for every mile over the speed limit
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2
as in punishment
suffering, loss, or hardship imposed in response to a crime or offense
in some cases, the new penalties for drug offenses were harsher than those for violent crimes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in disadvantage
the negative result caused by something that creates difficulty for achieving success
suffered the penalty of his decision to leave school without graduating
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of penalty
Here's what the Senate voted on, starting Thursday afternoon and stretching well into Friday morning:
Parental notification for safe firearm storage
Last year, Democrats passed legislation creating criminal penalties for not securing firearms in homes where there are minors.
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Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 20 Dec. 2024
Amazon will also pay $145,000 in penalties, about 90% of what the agency had sought in the underlying cases.
—Daniel Wiessner, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
Moser also has played a role on the Lightning’s penalty kill and their second power-play unit.
—Eduardo A. Encina, Orlando Sentinel, 20 Dec. 2024
Valorant has pretty significant penalties for players dropping out mid-game, all the way up to being banned.
—Echo Apsey, Rolling Stone, 20 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for penalty 
Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 20 Dec. 2024
Amazon will also pay $145,000 in penalties, about 90% of what the agency had sought in the underlying cases.
—Daniel Wiessner, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
Moser also has played a role on the Lightning’s penalty kill and their second power-play unit.
—Eduardo A. Encina, Orlando Sentinel, 20 Dec. 2024
Valorant has pretty significant penalties for players dropping out mid-game, all the way up to being banned.
—Echo Apsey, Rolling Stone, 20 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for penalty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penalty
Noun
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For those with restitution orders of court fines, the BOP suggests a minimum for participation in the program of $25/quarter, an affordable amount for many.Walter Pavlo, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024
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Its servings include a combination of Spanish-style fine dining, and a heaving spread of production incentives, location attraction systems and motivated co-production partners.Patrick Frater, Variety, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The 7-year-old alleged their hands had been duct taped behind their back at one point and said they and their siblings were hit with a belt as a punishment.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024
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These Latino families have an answer Taliban affirms that stoning will be punishment for adulterers — especially women RFK Jr. is not alone.Marc Silver, NPR, 16 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Broadcast series also face over-the-air content restrictions, placing them at yet another disadvantage.Michael Schneider, Variety, 20 Dec. 2024
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During our time with the game, one or more players would leave like clockwork every other match or so, putting the team at a disadvantage.Echo Apsey, Rolling Stone, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Deck the halls with–a cosmic wreath On December 18, NASA released a new image of star cluster NGC 602 and shows what looks like a festive wrath with twinkling lights.Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 20 Dec. 2024
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Disney has faced the wrath of another Republican in the form of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Set cost-saving targets (e.g., a 20% reduction in IT expenses), improve performance by reducing system response times, gauge user satisfaction through feedback and track deployment speed to cut integration time from weeks to days.Siddharth Gawshinde, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
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The vast majority are for medical expenses from people in desperate situations, the exact situations that insurance theoretically should protect against.Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Penalty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penalty. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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