Definition of "punitive" []

• Inflicting or aiming to inflict punishment; punishing. (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.

• "The internal audits have armed state officials with a powerful new weapon as they seek to extract what they describe as punitive fines from lawbreaking mortgage companies."
• "And a recent note by Goldman Sachs said that, while the current environment for the large integrated oil firms was "challenging," it didn't justify current valuations, which it described as "punitive.""
• "His first relationship with Pershing began in 1916 after Pancho Villa raided a New Mexican border town, and we had what they call the punitive expedition against Mexico to try to catch and punish Pancho Villa."