retributive

[ ri-trib-yuh-tiv ]
See synonyms for retributive on Thesaurus.com
adjective

  1. characterized by or involving retribution: retributive justice.

Origin of retributive

1
1670–80; obsolete retribute to make retribution (<Latin retribūtus;see retribution) + -ive
  • Also retrib·u·to·ry [ri-trib-yuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]. /rɪˈtrɪb yəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/.

Other words from retributive

  • re·trib·u·tive·ly, adverb
  • un·re·trib·u·tive, adjective
  • un·re·trib·u·to·ry, adjective

Words Nearby retributive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use retributive in a sentence

  • I felt that Alla would sooner or later urge me on to be the humble means of a retributive justice overtaking him.

    Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor

  • A general shout proclaimed the acquiescence of the other seamen in this act of retributive justice.

    Newton Forster | Captain Frederick Marryat

  • Here are no expressions of malice, no invocations even of God's retributive justice, not a complaint of suffering wrongfully!

  • Sadly and prayerfully while she slept lifted he the retributive mallet and beat in her brittle pate.

  • Is there no retributive justice dogging his heels, from which all the glories and adulations of earth cannot shield him?

    The Life of Thomas Wanless, Peasant | Alexander Johnstone Wilson

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