penalize
UK/ˈpiː.nəl.aɪz/
penalize verb: to subject to a penalty, especially for the infringement of a rule or regulation.
Verb
penalize (third-person singular simple present penalizes, present participle penalizing, simple past and past participle penalized)
- To subject to a penalty, especially for the infringement of a rule or regulation.
- Women should not be penalized or forced out of the workplace simply because they become pregnant. UPS, in fact, has come around to that position. It now offers light-duty accommodations to pregnant women who need them.2014 December 3, Editorial Board, “Supreme Court should affirm the rights of pregnant workers”, in The Los Angeles Times
- Ready for another term? Try vindictive protectiveness. In essence, in the name of emotional wellbeing, students can eliminate anything they do not want to think about, read about, or be challenged about. And penalize those who would expose them to it. How? In the name of "offense".2017, James Emery White, Meet Generation Z
- To impose a handicap on.
penalize meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Persian
penalize in Tamil
- தண்டமளி, தண்டி
penalize in Malayalam
- ശിക്ഷാർഹമാക്കുക, കുറ്റകരമാക്കുക, കുറ്റം സ്ഥാപിക്കുക
penalize in Kannada
- ಮುಯ್ವು ಕೊಡು
penalize in Persian
- to subject to a penalty
- تنبیه کردن tanbih kardan
Examples of penalize in a sentence
- His misplay in the bridge tournament was penalized when it was noted he'd broken the rules.
- Unchastity had to be penalized because, as the Bible showed, it was highly offensive to God.
- Hand out a bonus for building on wasted brownfields and depaving asphalt ones; penalize building on greenfields.
Synonyms of penalize
- chastise
- come down on
- amerce
- castigate
- correct
- fix someone's wagon
- have someone's guts for garters
- have someone's head
- have someone's hide
- give it to someone
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of penalize
| third-person singular present | penalizes |
|---|---|
| present participle | penalizing |
| past participle | penalized |
| past | penalized |
| alternative UK | penalise |
Origin of penalize
From penal + -ize.
Words formed from penalize
Questions about penalize
- What does penalize mean?
- Penalize means to subject to a penalty, especially for the infringement of a rule or regulation.
- What is penalize in Tamil?
- Penalize in Tamil is தண்டமளி, தண்டி. See Penalize meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is penalize?
- Penalize is a verb.
- How do you pronounce penalize?
- Penalize is pronounced /ˈpiː.nəl.aɪz/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of penalize?
- The past tense of penalize is penalized.
Words near penalize in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: penalize (page history and authors); penalize (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); penalize (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); penalize (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-penalize.ogg.
Cite this entry: “penalize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penalize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.