Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use retribution in a sentence

19 example sentences · noun

Retribution means punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance. Example: “Whereas retribution focuses on the offender's wrong, retaliation focuses on the impulse of the victim (or of those who sympathize with him) to strike back at the offender.”

Examples of retribution by meaning

nounPunishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance.

  • Whereas retribution focuses on the offender's wrong, retaliation focuses on the impulse of the victim (or of those who sympathize with him) to strike back at the offender.1983, Richard A. Posner, The economics of justice, m p.208

More sentences with retribution

  • Shame!’), could trigger an urge for retribution regardless of her intention.2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin 2012, page 610. From the entry actus reus
  • Here, it is said, MacDonalds of Glencoe hid their lifted beasts when retribution threatened.2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 24. From the entry lifted
  • The retribution for those who failed to help bushrangers could be severe.2003, Sharon Morgan, Land Settlement in Early Tasmania: Creating an Antipodean England, page 131. From the entry bushranger
  • As he spoke, soldiers scrawled messages of retribution on the wings of a dozen drones, each packed with thermobaric explosives.2026 June 10, Marc Santora, “A Twist in Ukraine’s Drone Campaign Is ‘Really Hurting the Russians’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry thermobaric
  • In 16th and 17th century Britain, for example, women’s alopecia was sometimes interpreted as retribution for sins, including adultery.2024 March 31, Glen Jankowski, “Alopecia in art history: The many ways women’s hair loss has been interpreted”, in CNN, archived from the…. From the entry century
  • If ever there were retribution for shedding of innocent blood, who shall answer in the earth for this shedding of blood?2015, Ravens Station Steward, Ravens Station Steward. From the entry wombchild
  • A death sentence for Kasab, seen to represent Pakistan, will be widely supported in a frenzy of righteous retribution.2010 May 4, Priyamvada Gopal, “Executing Mumbai gunman is not the answer”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News…. From the entry clemency
  • Retribution was savage after Lu Xianwen denounced this as ‘sabotage of production’ and demanded the punishment of offenders.1996, Jasper Becker, Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine, The Free Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 117. From the entry Pingyu
  • He pushed his mother’s legs, retribution for some unforgotten slight.1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, Vintage (2019), page 339. From the entry unforgotten
  • The result was not revolt, but a familiar wartime dynamic: a rally around the flag, reinforced by coercion and fear of state retribution.2026 April 23, Fawaz Gerges, “Trump’s war has backfired spectacularly: Iran is now more influential than ever”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry rally round the flag
  • For many of us, the realization that people in power, regardless of political party, would belittle, name call and seek retribution has been a shock.2025 April 11, Carol Burton, “What We Believed About America”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN…. From the entry belittle
  • Trump’s campaign of retribution began to intensify in mid-July after an adviser stoked his snarling impatience over the slow pace of Justice Department investigations.2025 September 27, “Inside the Trump Administration’s Push to Prosecute James Comey”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York…. From the entry snarling
  • Is she so sure that anger and retribution can’t be carried out while still pausing for silence in the presence of the museumified dead?2015, Marc H. Ellis, The Heartbeat of the Prophetic, Wipf and Stock, published 2017, page 129. From the entry museumify
  • Violence is apparently introduced early by the practice of "cruelling": children even in their first months are physically punished and then encouraged to seek retribution by punishing the punisher.2007, Stewart Motha, “Reconciliation as Domination”, in Scott Veitch, editor, Law and the Politics of Reconciliation, Routledge, published…. From the entry cruel
  • 'Woe unto you; woe unto you,' and His own lips quivered and His own heart felt the woe, as He laid bare the sin and foreannounced the retribution.2004, Alexander MacLaren, Expositions Of Holy Scripture St. Matthew - Page 100. From the entry foreannounce
  • Many monks who survived the Chinese retribution joined the militant monks at the Sampiling monastery, a vast walled compound that sprawled on a remote tableland deep in the Hsiang-ch'eng.2004, Douglas A. Wissing, Pioneer in Tibet, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 86. From the entry Hsiang-ch'eng
  • Henderson would interpret Guthlac’s sudden discovery of a religious vocation as a means of escaping a worse fate when retribution was sought for the queen’s death.2000, Barbara Yorke, “Æthelbald, Offa and the Patronage of Nunneries”, in David Hill, Margaret Worthington, editors, Æthelbald and Offa…. From the entry reginacide
  • Never be a stinker, because if you are, though you may flourish for a time like a green bay tree, sooner or later retribution will overtake you.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter II, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry stinker

Meaning of retribution

  1. noun Punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance.

Full definition of retribution

Questions about retribution in a sentence

How do you use retribution in a sentence?
Retribution is used as a noun. For example: “Whereas retribution focuses on the offender's wrong, retaliation focuses on the impulse of the victim (or of those who sympathize with him) to strike back at the offender.”
What is a short sentence with retribution?
“He pushed his mother’s legs, retribution for some unforgotten slight.”
What does retribution mean?
Retribution means punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retribution (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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