Usually means: Harshness in imposing punishment; severity.
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We found 8 dictionaries that define the word punitiveness:

General (6 matching dictionaries)
  1. punitiveness: Merriam-Webster
  2. punitiveness: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
  3. punitiveness: Collins English Dictionary
  4. punitiveness: Wiktionary
  5. punitiveness: Dictionary.com
  6. punitiveness: TheFreeDictionary.com

Business (2 matching dictionaries)
  1. punitiveness: Merriam-Webster Legal Dictionary
  2. punitiveness: Legal dictionary

(Note: See punitive as well.)

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Definitions from Wiktionary (punitiveness)

▸ noun:  The state or condition of being punitive.

Similar:
punishingness, penality, punishability, punniness, repressiveness, vindictiveness, stringentness, strictness, pungency, punyness, more...

Opposite:
leniency, mercy, compassion, forgiveness

Adjectives:
parental, maternal, populist, greater, new, high, extreme, adult, public, paternal, more

▸ Words similar to punitiveness

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▸ Rhymes of punitiveness

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Similar:
punishingness, penality, punishability, punniness, repressiveness, vindictiveness, stringentness, strictness, pungency, punyness, more...

Opposite:
leniency, mercy, compassion, forgiveness

Adjectives:
parental, maternal, populist, greater, new, high, extreme, adult, public, paternal, more



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