retributive

Questions about retributive

What does retributive mean?

retributive means "of or relating to or having the nature of retribution". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in retributive?

retributive has 4 syllables: re-tri-bu-tive. The stress falls on "tri".

What is another word for retributive?

Close synonyms include retaliatory, retaliative, retributory, vindicatory, retributory. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is retributive a common word?

retributive is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.