retributive
Use Retributive in a sentence
yə adjective
characterized by or involving retribution: retributive justice.
Origin:
1670–80; obsolete retribute to make retribution (< Latin retribūtus; see retribution) + -ive
1670–80; obsolete retribute to make retribution (< Latin retribūtus; see retribution) + -ive
Related forms
re·trib·u·tive·ly, adverb
un·re·trib·u·tive, adjective
un·re·trib·u·to·ry, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To retributive
Collins
World English Dictionary
retribution (ˌrɛtrɪˈbjuːʃən) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the act of punishing or taking vengeance for wrongdoing, sin, or injury |
| 2. | punishment or vengeance |
| [C14: via Old French from Church Latin retribūtiō, from Latin retribuere to repay, from | |
| retributive | |
| —adj | |
| re'tributory | |
| —adj | |
| re'tributively | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Retributive
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Example sentences
However, it can be used instead for retributive purposes or as a means of rehabilitating the offender.
Although the threat of punishment deters, actual punishment is retributive since it punishes only past offenses.
There is a retributive tone to many of the comments.
Education does not flourish in prisons because of prevailing notions about the punitive and retributive purposes of prisons.
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