penalty

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
12
Words With Friends
14
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ˈpɛn.əl.ti/
See all 3 pronunciations
/ˈpɛn.əl.ti/ · /pɛˈnæl.ʈi/ · /ˈpɛ.nəl.ʈi/

Definition of penalty

6 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A legal sentence.
    “The penalty for his crime was to do hard labor.”
See all 6 definitions

noun

  1. A legal sentence.
    “The penalty for his crime was to do hard labor.”
  2. A punishment for violating rules of procedure.
    “Was it so irreconcilable, Warwick wondered, as still to peal out the curfew bell, which at nine o'clock at night had clamorously warned all negroes, slave or free, that it was unlawful for them to be abroad after that hour, under penalty of imprisonment or whipping?”
  3. A payment forfeited for an early withdrawal from an account or an investment.
  4. In sports:
  5. In sports:
    “A penalty was called when he tripped up his opponent.”
  6. A disadvantageous consequence of a previous event.
    “"But you, my noble, my generous girl!" exclaimed Lord Avonleigh, "I dare not let you pay the penalty of my former folly."”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle French pénalité, from pénal, from Latin poenālis, from poena, borrowing of Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ), from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoinā́, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂, comprising *kʷey- + *-néh₂.

Anagrams of penalty

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play aplenty 12 points

Words you can make from penalty

127 playable · top: APLENTY (12 pts)

Best play aplenty 12 points

6-letter words

5 words

5-letter words

22 words

4-letter words

37 words

3-letter words

45 words

2-letter words

17 words

Find your best play with penalty

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes penalty, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.