penalize B2 Topic:Law & Government US /ˈpɛnəˌlaɪz/ UK /ˈpiː.nəl.aɪz/ See IPA manual Freq #57887 Meanings 1 verb To punish someone for breaking a rule or law. Players who break the rules will be penalized by the referee. 2 verb To put someone at a disadvantage. The new tax unfairly penalizes families on low incomes. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 verb · to punish someone for... punishcorrect Word family Forms penalizedpenalizespenalizing Derived forms depenalizeoverpenalizepenalizablepenalizerunderpenalize Related forms penalpenalizationpenalty Etymology AI details From penal + -ize. *kʷey- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Law & Government External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # penalize **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /ˈpɛnəˌlaɪz/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈpiː.nəl.aɪz/ **Frequency rank:** 57887 ## Meanings 1. To punish someone for breaking a rule or law. 2. To put someone at a disadvantage. ## Examples - Players who break the rules will be penalized by the referee. - The new tax unfairly penalizes families on low incomes. ## Derived Forms - depenalize - overpenalize - penalizable - penalizer - underpenalize ## Related Forms - penal - penalization - penalty ## Roots and Affixes - Root: *kʷey- ## Etymology From penal + -ize. ## AI Etymology Penalize comes from penal + -ize. Modern senses include to punish someone for breaking a rule or law and to put someone at a disadvantage. The wider word family includes derivatives such as depenalize, overpenalize, penalizable, penalizer, and underpenalize and related forms such as penal, penalization, and penalty. ## Topics - Law & Government markdown