impunity
/ɪmˈpjuːnɪti/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.18 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Maternus, a private ſoldier, of a daring boldneſs above his ſtation,[…] plundered with impunity the rich and defenceleſs cities of Gaul and Spain."
- "I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser."
- "The remoteness of the prison made the authorities feel they could ignore us with impunity."
- "The brewing conflict between locals and the whalers prompted then-sheriff Ari Magnússon to draw up a decree that allowed Basques to be killed with impunity in the district."
- "[...] and the rebuilding of Birmingham New Street with its Taurus Bar ("where one for the road - the railroad - can be taken with impunity")."
- "If Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could order his troops into his neighbor with impunity, surely China’s President Xi Jinping might finally decide to recover Taiwan, the island province that has remained staunchly independent ever since Mao Zedong’s Red Army finished his conquest of the mainland in 1949."
Etymology
From Middle French impunité, from Latin impunitas, from impunis (“without punishment”).
Word Breakdown
- Root: *kʷey-