as in punitive
inflicting, involving, or serving as punishment
Australia was once a penal colony
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Recent Examples of penal
Even in the most incarcerated country in the world, the penal system is, for many people, experienced through mass media representations, whether fictional or documentary.
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Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The corpus of crime-and-punishment imagery that emerged during this era tended to feature sensational events and high-profile lawbreakers rather than emphasizing the uniform anonymity that would increasingly characterize the new penal system and the majority of inmates.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
Foucault articulated the judicial and penal shifts from public punishment to private regulation, drawing particular attention to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, an architectural concretization of the unseen but ever-present authority of the state.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
On July 8, 1936, Cowell arrived at San Quentin, the largest prison in a state penal system that ranked high among the country’s worst.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penal
Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The corpus of crime-and-punishment imagery that emerged during this era tended to feature sensational events and high-profile lawbreakers rather than emphasizing the uniform anonymity that would increasingly characterize the new penal system and the majority of inmates.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
Foucault articulated the judicial and penal shifts from public punishment to private regulation, drawing particular attention to Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, an architectural concretization of the unseen but ever-present authority of the state.
—Sarah C. Schaefer, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
On July 8, 1936, Cowell arrived at San Quentin, the largest prison in a state penal system that ranked high among the country’s worst.
—Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penal
Cite this Entry
“Penal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penal. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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