punitive
/ˈpju.nɪ.tɪv/adjective
punitive is spelled P-U-N-I-T-I-V-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, punitive means “Inflicting punishment; punishing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in punitive?
| Letters | 8: P-U-N-I-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,342nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is punitive?
Punitive appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce punitive?
- /ˈpju.nɪ.tɪv/
Punitive has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-punitive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of punitive
- more punitive comparative
- most punitive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does punitive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Inflicting punishment; punishing.
Beijing imposed punitive sanctions on Canada.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Punitive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense punishing:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does punitive come from?
From Middle French punitif, from Medieval Latin pūnitīvus, from pūniō (“to punish”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).