self-punishment

Self-punishment is the act or an occasion of a person punishing themselves, as in The monk isolated himself for days as self-punishment for his sins.

Self-punishment is similar to the word self-harm, and the two can sometimes be used to describe the same situations. However, self-punishment is more general and may not involve actual harm or injury to a person. Additionally, using the word self-punishment suggests that a person believes they have done something wrong or committed some transgression that they deserve to be punished for.

Example: Darla felt so guilty for ruining her mother’s garden that she replanted everything as self-punishment.

The first records of the term self-punishment come from around 1586. It combines self-, in the sense of “to, with, toward, for, on, in oneself,” and the word punishment, the act of inflicting pain or a penalty on someone as a result of an error or offense. Self-punishment is a person inflicting punishment on themselves.

Self-punishment is a general term, and the punishment can be performed physically, such as a person submerging themselves in cold water, or mentally, such as a person chastising themselves repeatedly.

Why would someone actively choose to punish themselves? That’s a question psychologists have been trying to answer. Self-punishment is actually quite common and is thought to come from a person trying to alleviate guilt or remorse. Relatedly, Christian holy men in the Middle Ages were noted to perform self-punishment as a form of penance for sins.

What are some synonyms for self-punishment?

• contrition
• penance
• repentance
• self-condemnation
• self-flagellation

What are some words that share a root or word element with self-punishment?

• self
• punishment
• self-inflicted
• self-induced

What are some words that often get used in discussing self-punishment?

• guilt
• remorse
• sin
• form
• method

Self-punishment is used by people to refer to activities they perform because of guilt or remorse. Sometimes, the word is used jokingly.

Me: Eating candy corn is just another form of self punishment

Also me: eats candy corn

— Professional Worrier (@pro_worrier_) October 10, 2019

In my latest act of self punishment: I've included celery in tomorrows breakfast juice.

— TUTS 🍍 (@tutkubarbaros) July 8, 2014

One time I got annoyed at a daddy long legs flying around my face for ages so I killed it. Then, as I'm really anti-killing anything, I left the little being on the wall as a self-punishment for like a month and felt guilty every time I saw it. 😣😶

— Roxy Watson (@Roxy_Watson) July 11, 2018

Is self-punishment used correctly in the following sentence?

Even though his mother never found out, Sam grounded himself in his room as an act of self-punishment for breaking the china plate.