Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Punitive \Pu"ni*tive\, a.
   Of or pertaining to punishment; involving, awarding, or
   inflicting punishment; as, punitive law or justice.

         If death be punitive, so, likewise, is the necessity
         imposed upon man of toiling for his subsistence. -- I.
                                                  Taylor.

         We shall dread a blow from the punitive hand.
                                                  --Bagehot.

Source : WordNet®

punitive
     adj : inflicting punishment; "punitive justice"; "punitive
           damages" [syn: {punitory}] [ant: {rehabilitative}]