Impunity

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈpjuːnɪti/

Origin

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

Full definition of impunity

Noun

1. (countable, legal) Exemption from punishment.
2. (uncountable) Freedom from punishment or retribution; security from any reprisal or injurious consequences of an action, behaviour etc.
• 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, :I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is undressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.
• 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 495:The remoteness of the prison made the authorities feel they could ignore us with impunity.