刑けい罰ばつ

け

い

ば

つ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

punishment; penalty; sentence

Refers to formal punishment under criminal law, including imprisonment, fines, and other legal penalties.

裁さい判ばん所しょは彼かれに厳きびしい刑けい罰ばつを言いい渡わたした。
The court handed down a severe sentence to him.
その犯はん罪ざいに対たいする刑けい罰ばつは重おもすぎるという意い見けんもある。
Some say the punishment for that crime is too heavy.

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Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉に刑けい罰ばつを科かすto impose a punishment/penalty on someone
裁さい判ばん所しょは被ひ告こく人にんに重おもい刑けい罰ばつを科かした。
The court imposed a severe punishment on the defendant.
刑けい罰ばつを受うけるto receive/be given a punishment
彼かれはその罪つみで刑けい罰ばつを受うけた。
He received a punishment for that crime.
刑けい罰ばつを免まぬがれるto escape/avoid punishment
証しょう拠こ不ふ十じゅう分ぶんで彼かれは刑けい罰ばつを免まぬがれた。
He avoided punishment due to insufficient evidence.
重おもい／軽かるい刑けい罰ばつa severe/light punishment
この犯はん罪ざいには比ひ較かく的てき軽かるい刑けい罰ばつが定さだめられている。
A relatively light punishment is set for this crime.

Kanji

刑punish, penalty, sentence
罰penalty, punishment

Related words· 7

罰ばつN1
罰 is a general word for punishment that can be used informally or morally, while 刑罰 specifically means a formal legal penalty imposed by criminal law.
処しょ罰ばつN1
処罰 stresses the act of punishing someone (often institutionally), whereas 刑罰 refers to the specific legal penalty itself.
制せい裁さいN1
制裁 refers to sanctions or retaliatory measures (which can be social, economic, or international), while 刑罰 is strictly a criminal-law penalty.
懲ちょう罰ばつ
懲罰 is a disciplinary punishment (e.g. within an organization or the military), while 刑罰 specifically denotes a penalty prescribed by criminal law.

Show 3 more

量りょう刑けい
刑罰 is the punishment itself (the penalty), whereas 量刑 is the process or result of deciding how severe that punishment should be.
刑けいN1
刑罰 is a formal compound meaning criminal punishment, often used in legal writing, whereas 刑 is the shorter form used alone or as a suffix like 死刑.
罰ばっ則そくN1
刑罰 refers specifically to criminal punishment under law, while 罰則 can apply to legal, corporate, or school rules alike.

Don't confuse with

刑けい法ほう
刑法 (keihō) is the body of criminal law itself, while 刑罰 (keibatsu) is the actual punishment prescribed by that law, and the words are easily mixed up due to their similar sound and kanji.
罰ばっ金きんN1
罰金 is specifically a monetary fine, one particular type of 刑罰 (punishment), not the general concept itself.

Word family

刑けい罰ばつ化か
penalization; criminalization; adding penalties

Etymology

Compound of 刑 (けい, 'punishment, penalty') and 罰 (ばつ, 'punishment'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the combination has been used to denote legal punishment since classical times.