严惩不贷

嚴懲不貸
yánchéngbúdài
idiom #67,295

Meanings

  1. 1 to punish severely without pardon
  2. 2 to deal with harshly, showing no mercy

Examples

Duì fǔbài xíngwéi, bìxū yánchéngbúdài.
Corruption must be punished severely without pardon.
Fánshì wéifǎn guīdìng de, yílǜ yánchéngbúdài.
Anyone who violates the rules will be severely punished, no exceptions.

Tips

usage
here means 'to pardon/to spare' (an old legal sense), so = 'no pardon.' The phrase is a standard tagline in legal and disciplinary announcements — 一律严惩不贷 ('all will be punished, no exceptions').
register
Formal and authoritative. Common in news reports, court verdicts, and corporate disciplinary statements. Sounds too heavy for ordinary conversation.

Stroke Order

yán
chéng
dài