punishing

[puhn-i-shing]

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of punishing¹

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

Example Sentences

Democrats said Republicans were punishing people by refusing to attach health insurance subsidies to the spending bill.

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Do we play the left’s game—silencing, canceling, punishing, authorizing the government to pick winners and losers in the private sector?

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But his job in sentencing her is “punishing her conduct and not JPMorgan’s stupidity.”

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Cutting the corporate tax would break the standard New Jersey practice of offering huge tax incentives to specific businesses while punishing the rest with high rates.

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By doing so, he made clear that he was punishing Mr. Combs for conduct the jury didn’t find to be a crime.

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Related Words

• brutal 
• grueling 
• punitive