punishing
adjective
causing or characterized by harsh or injurious treatment; severe; brutal.
self-punishing
-
a word derived from
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.
She was also extremely rigid, moralistic and self-punishing and was quick to lash out with an acerbic tongue, including at me.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 14, 2023
The frame of the show involves the singer’s self-punishing quest to perfectly pull off his 1992 Dangerous tour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2022
Once Joe is on the road, however, the movie turns Jadin into a sentimental contrivance, a tool to illustrate his father’s transformation from short-fused insensitive to self-punishing penitent.
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2021
It feels quite uplifting to do that, somehow, rather than self-punishing.
From The Guardian ● May 30, 2020
The jeweled bracelets were clasped again around the thinly boned joints, and on some self-punishing impulse she had shortened the chains so that she could not even put her arms around me.
From The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley
