Showing results for "punishing"

• present participle of punish.

punishing

American  

[puhn-i-shing] / ˈpʌn ɪ ʃɪŋ /

adjective

1. causing or characterized by harsh or injurious treatment; severe; brutal.

   The storm was accompanied by punishing winds.

---

Other Word Forms

• nonpunishing
  adjective
• self-punishing
  adjective
• unpunishing
  adjective
• unpunishingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of punishing

1425–75; late Middle English punyesand; see punish, -ing ²

Explanation

Something punishing is extremely physically difficult to do. On a very hot, humid day, even a 5K is a punishing race to run. Anything that exhausts you because it's so demanding can be described with the adjective punishing. A punishing hike leaves you gasping and applying bandages to your blisters. A punishing argument with your family is more mentally arduous. Sometimes, punishing things weaken or debilitate: "The lack of snow had a punishing result for the ski industry." Rarely, punishing also means "leading to punishment."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

punishing

For Asia-bound cargoes that do go north, the map then becomes more punishing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Underneath the quiet sits a live wire: the “Magnificent Seven,” nearly left for dead after a punishing first half of 2026, but quietly coming back to life in the past two weeks.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 19, 2026

Macklem said there were indications that was happening, pointing to aluminum, a key Canadian sector facing punishing Trump tariffs, where businesses are "finding new customers in Europe."

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

“At the end of the day, they end up just punishing people who are either fast test takers or know the material.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Constrained by its punishing climate, poor soil, and lack of protein, these scientists argue, large-scale societies have never existed—can never exist—in the river basin.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• brutal
• grueling
• punitive