Definition of "retributive" [re•trib•u•tive]

• Of, involving, or characterized by retribution; retributory. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Now, that is what I call retributive justice; for she threw down the chair for him to stumble over, and, if he has grazed his knees, she suffers under a torn dress, and must retire until one of the maids darn up the rent."
• "If Israel simply protects itself without lashing out in retributive violence, they may eventually gain a Palestinian negotiating partner amenable to peace and capable of enforcing it among its own people."
• "She thought she saw clearly, that their unnatural bereavement was a blow dealt in retributive justice; but she found it not in her heart to exult or rejoice over them."