penal

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The interim government is prosecuting Atef Najib under the 1949 penal code, a statute written for ordinary murder, not for crimes against humanity.

From Slate • May 27, 2026

“As well as realistic criminal investigation when they’ve committed a crime in violation of a penal code.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

Memorial was founded in the late 1980s to document victims of Soviet-era political repression during which millions of people perished in the Gulag penal system.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

Before Saturday's announcement, Navalny's wife Yulia Navalnaya had consistently argued that her husband was killed by poisoning while serving a prison sentence in an Arctic penal colony in 2024.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

When our elders presented school to us, they did not present it as a place of high learning but as a means of escape from death and penal warehousing.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates