punish

/ˈpʌnɪʃ/

//ˈpʌnɪʃ// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"punish" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“punish” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,726. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,726
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cause (a child, student, or someone else being looked after, or a suspect or criminal) to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action, typically by an authority or a person...

Corpus desk

Index EN-punish · punish · English

punish · rank #7,726 · 9 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,726
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH plea

Nearest frequency peer: plea (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “punish”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “punish” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

punish vs push
67% similar
punish vs puns
67% similar
punish vs punks
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for punish
PropertyValue
Headwordpunish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈpʌnɪʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,726
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “punish”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).punishlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “plea” (#7,725), “purse” (#7,727), “plasma” (#7,724). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “punish” is #7,726. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around punish (IPA /ˈpʌnɪʃ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #7,726 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for punish, with forms such as "pnuish", "ppunish", and "puinsh". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "push", "puns", "punks", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English punischen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French puniss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of punir, from Latin puniō (“I inflict punishment upon”), from poena (“punishment, penalty”); see pain. Displaced Old English wītnian and (mostly, in … The correct English form is punish, spelled P-U-N-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cause (a child, student, or someone else being looked after, or a suspect or criminal) to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action, typically by an authority or a person in authority (for example: a parent, teacher, or police officer).
  2. 2
    To treat harshly and unfairly.
  3. 3
    To handle or beat severely; to maul.
  4. 4
    To consume a large quantity of.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how punish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If a prince violates the law, then he must be punished like an ordinary person.
  2. It was not from the want of proper laws that dangerous principles had been disseminated, and had assumed a threatening aspect, but because those laws had not been employed by the executive power to remedy the evil, and to punish the offenders.

Etymology

From Middle English punischen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French puniss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of punir, from Latin puniō (“I inflict punishment upon”), from poena (“punishment, penalty”); see pain. Displaced Old English wītnian and (mostly, in this sense) wrecan.

Synonyms

amercecastigatechastenchastisecome down oncorrectfix someone's wagonhave someone's guts for gartershave someone's headhave someone's hidegive it to someonegive someone what forgive what forgruelmalavoguenail someone to the wallpenalizepenancepunishtan someone's hidetar outteach someone a lesson

Antonyms

forgivelet offreward

This word in other languages

castigar(Español)punir(Français)bestrafen(Deutsch)castigar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pnuish
  • ppunish
  • puinsh
  • punihs
  • punishh
  • punissh
  • punnish
  • punsih
  • upnish

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of punish - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

pnuish2ppunish1puinsh2punihs2punishh1punissh1punnish1punsih2
Edit distance from "punish"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "punish"?
"punish" is spelled P-U-N-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpʌnɪʃ/.
What does "punish" mean?
As a verb, "punish" means: To cause (a child, student, or someone else being looked after, or a suspect or criminal) to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action, typically by an authority or a person...
What words are commonly confused with "punish"?
"punish" is commonly confused with "push", "puns", "punks". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "punish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "punish" is /ˈpʌnɪʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "punish"?
From Middle English punischen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French puniss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of punir, from Latin puniō (“I inflict punishment upon”), from poena (“punishment, penalty”); see pain. Displaced Old English wītnian and (m... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "punish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

plasma#7,724Reagan#7,729Pierre#7,722pencil#7,720

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Munich9 variantsmetals9 variantslocker9 variantsherald9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list