Deterrent and Penalty

Deterrent

Deterrent noun - Something that makes movement or progress difficult.

Show all Definitions

Penalty and deterrent are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Penalty" instead a noun "Deterrent".

Nearby Words: deterred, deterrence, deterring

Penalty noun - A sum of money to be paid as a punishment.

Show all Definitions

Deterrent and penalty are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Deterrent" instead a noun "Penalty".

common	common deterrent	common penalty
natural	natural deterrent	natural penalty
single	single deterrent	single penalty
real	real deterrent	real penalty
Other adjectives: ultimate, permanent, minor, extra, intentional.

The death penalty doesn't mean anything [as a deterrent] unless you use it on people that are afraid to die.

Source: Not Afraid to Die
So it is ONLY the rampant use of the death penalty as a deterrent that achieves this effect, not any increase in efficiency of actually catching criminals.

Source: Manga / Death Note
Oddly this was presented as a more or less positive example that actually worked: as the Edo people proudly explain, no one has actually committed a crime in centuries due to using the death penalty as a deterrent for everything, which they see as inherently logical.

Source: All Crimes Are Equal

Cite this Source

Penalty and Deterrent. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 03, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/deterrent/penalty

Deterrent & Penalty. N.p., 2016. Web. 03 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/deterrent/penalty>.

Penalty or Deterrent. 2016. Accessed August 03, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/deterrent/penalty.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "deterrent" and "penalty" have occurred on timeline