Dictionary

impunity en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɪmˈpjuːnɪti/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle French impunité, from Latin impunitas, from impunis (“without punishment”).

Meanings

1. (countable) Exemption from punishment.
2. (uncountable) Freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.
   • The remoteness of the prison made the authorities feel they could ignore us with impunity. 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 495:
   • 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. 2022 August 30, Donald Kirk, “Could China invade South Korea after Taiwan?”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2022:
   • I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado:
   • It said that Russian troops were massing at the border and preparing strikes on Ukraine with impunity. 2024 June 4, Maria Varenikova, Constant Méheut, Aric Toler, “Ukraine Strikes Into Russia With Western Weapons, Official Says”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 11 Jul 2024:
   • [...] and the rebuilding of Birmingham New Street with its Taurus Bar ("where one for the road - the railroad - can be taken with impunity"). 2021 March 10, Greg Morse, “Telling the railway's story on film”, in RAIL, number 926, pages 44–45:
   • Maternus, a private ſoldier, of a daring boldneſs above his ſtation,[…] plundered with impunity the rich and defenceleſs cities of Gaul and Spain. 1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter IV, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 91:
   • 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. 2015 April 29, Ashifa Kassam, “Basques safe in Iceland as district repeals decree to kill them on sight”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2020:

Forms

Relateds

punishment · punition · punitive · impunitive · punitively

Translations (71)

sh nekažnjivost (exemption from punishment) · tr cezasızlık (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 免於責罰 /免于责罚 (exemption from punishment) · de Straffreiheit (exemption from punishment) · ca impunitat (exemption from punishment) · cmn 免於罪責 /免于罪责 (exemption from punishment) · mk неказнетост (exemption from punishment) · hu büntetlenség (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · bg безнаказаност (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 免於懲治 /免于惩治 (exemption from punishment) · fr impunité (exemption from punishment) · cs beztrestnost (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · lt nebaudžiamumas (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 免於懲戒 /免于惩戒 (exemption from punishment) · hy անպատժելիություն (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · id impunitas (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · ru ненаказу́емость (exemption from punishment) · grc ἄδεια (exemption from punishment) · be беспакара́насць (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 免於懲罰 /免于惩罚 (exemption from punishment) · mk неказнивост (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · fr impunité (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · hu büntetlenség (exemption from punishment) · fi koskemattomuus (exemption from punishment) · de Straflosigkeit (exemption from punishment) · ja 刑事免責 (exemption from punishment) · sh nekažnjivost (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · da straffrihed (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · sh нека̀жњиво̄ст (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 有罪不訴 /有罪不诉 (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · fi rankaisemattomuus (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 不受懲罰性 /不受惩罚性 (exemption from punishment) · la impūnitās (exemption from punishment) · pl bezkarność (exemption from punishment) · grc ἄδεια (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · uk звільнення від покарання (exemption from punishment) · is refsileysi (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · rsk нєкарацосц (exemption from punishment) · it impunità (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · kk жазасыздық (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · pt impunidade (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · el ατιμωρησία (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · de Straflosigkeit (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 免罰 /免罚 (exemption from punishment) · es impunidad (exemption from punishment) · ka დაუსჯელობა (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · pt imunidade (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · sk beztrestnosť (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · pt impunidade (exemption from punishment) · ca impunitat (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · ru безнака́занность (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · ru освобожде́ние от наказа́ния (exemption from punishment) · cmn 有責不究 /有责不究 (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · rsk нєкарацосц (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 有罪不罰 /有罪不罚 (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · uk безка́рність (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · nn straffridom (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · es impunidad (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · tr cezasızlık (exemption from punishment) · la impūnitās (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · be бяска́рнасць (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · az cəzasızlıq (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · fo revsiloysi (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · sh nekažnjenost (exemption from punishment) · gd saorsa o pheanas (exemption from punishment) · nb straffrihet (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · sv straffrihet (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · nl straffeloosheid (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · pl bezkarność (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · sl nekaznovanost (freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.) · cmn 免於懲處 /免于惩处 (exemption from punishment)