punishing
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of punishing
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."
Vocabulary lists containing punishing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What’s the use of punishing a terminally ill man?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde on Wednesday urged the eurozone to adapt faster to climate change as the economic costs mount, after a summer of punishing heatwaves.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
Alphabet endured a punishing selloff of its own, while the Nasdaq closed out its worst month since March 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
But it’s eminently plausible that the sudden onset of a winter storm, with low temperatures and cold precipitation, transformed a modest hike into a punishing ordeal for which the two men were unprepared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Despite his misgivings Olmsted left the completion of the exposition landscape in the hands of Ulrich and adopted a punishing schedule of work and travel that took him through sixteen states.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
