- present participle of punish.
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.
One of the factors that weighed the most heavily in the court’s decision again was that Indiana was punishing speech about something that was legal and protected in other states.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
Germany has registered a record 15,800 heat-related deaths this summer as Europe struggles through a series of punishing heatwaves, the national public health institute said Thursday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Hochman said last week that he wanted to thread the needle between punishing the illegal recording and not dissuading whistleblowers from coming forward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
TORONTO—Over the past 17 months, as President Trump has freighted Canada’s economy with several rounds of punishing tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney has often repeated the guiding maxim for his negotiations with the U.S.:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The cold shocks my body, gripping my spine and muffling my senses as if punishing me for daring to challenge it.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions 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.
