penalizzare

to penalize

verb peh-nah-leed-DZAH-reh Rare

Also means

to disadvantage

Usage Note

Penalizzare takes avere as its auxiliary and is widely used in both legal contexts (la legge penalizza le piccole imprese) and sports (l'arbitro ha penalizzato la squadra). It is not a false friend with English 'penalize' — the meanings align closely. The related noun is la penalizzazione.

Examples

"Questa regola penalizza i lavoratori giovani."

Natural Translation

This rule penalizes young workers.

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