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.

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of punishing

1425–75; late Middle English punyesand; 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

Bloodborne, from legendary Japanese developer FromSoftware, built on the studio's successful Dark Souls series, famed for its punishing, strategic combat encounters.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

On another level, though, Pitchford is about what happens when that principle collides with the punishing procedural architecture of modern postconviction review.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026

Striking indiscriminately at critical infrastructure would be wrong as well as unwise, punishing the Iranian people we need on our side.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

But what’s intended as a blow to the government is punishing the Cuban people.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Olmsted’s teeth hurt, his ears roared, and he could not sleep, yet throughout the first months of 1892 he kept up a pace that would have been punishing for a man one-third his age.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• brutal
• grueling
• punitive