What does punish mean?
Word: Punish
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Punish means to make someone suffer a penalty, such as a fine or loss of a privilege, because they have done something wrong.
Synonyms: penalise, discipline, fine
Antonyms: forgive, pardon
Word origin: From Latin punire, from poena, penalty.
How do you spell punish?
Syllables: pun - ish
Tricky part: A short u, as in funny, tempts children to double the n, but punish has only one.
Watch out for: punnish, punich
Memory tip: One naughty act, one n: punish never doubles its n.
Punish in a sentence
Example 1: The referee will punish any player who argues with him.
Example 2: My parents do not punish us for mistakes, only for lying about them.
Example 3: The new law will punish factories that pour waste into the river.
Fun Fact
Punish goes back to Latin poena, a penalty, which also gave English the words penalty and pain.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. supress 2. punish 3. exagerate 4. accomodate
a) to make something sound bigger than it is
b) to make someone pay for a wrong they have done
c) to stop something from showing or growing
d) to give someone room or a place to stay
Show answer
b) to make someone pay for a wrong they have done. Each of the other three has lost one letter of a double pair; punish is the only correct spelling.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word punish as used in the sentence:
The new rule will punish shops that sell plastic bags.
a) warn
b) inform
c) reward
d) follow
Show answer
c) reward. Punishing means giving a penalty; rewarding means giving something good.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The coach warned that he would hspuin anyone who skipped practice twice.
a) punch
b) punish
c) publish
d) polish
Show answer
b) punish. The jumble has no l and no c, so publish, polish and punch are out; punish is left.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The teacher said she would not punesh anyone for a wrong answer, only for not trying at all during the class quiz.
a) trying
b) punesh
c) teacher
d) answer
Show answer
b) punesh. The vowel before the sh is an i, as in finish.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Punishing a student for breaking a rule means ____.
a) asking the student for help with a lesson
b) praising the student in front of the class
c) giving the student a prize for honesty
d) making the student face a consequence
Show answer
d) making the student face a consequence
2. Which of the following would a school use to punish a student?
a) detention after school
b) a gold star on a chart
c) an extra games period
d) a certificate of merit
Show answer
a) detention after school
