- present participle of tax.
taxing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of taxing
Explanation
Taxing things are stressful and difficult. Climbing a mountain is taxing, and so is spending an entire day babysitting an unruly toddler. Things that are taxing wear you out, either physically or mentally (or both). You may think of physical jobs like construction work as the most taxing kind of employment, until you realize how emotionally taxing it would be to care for sick patients as a nurse, or how mentally taxing you might find working as an accountant. This adjective comes from the verb tax, which means "to put a strain on."
Vocabulary lists containing taxing
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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.
Fundamentally, what makes a legislature powerful is its control over taxing and spending, the power of the purse.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
But depth at the physically taxing position is always valuable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
President of Soroptimist International Jersey Debbie Taylor said the initiative was "great" but still taxing the products in shops was "another example of inequality".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
By February of last year, I was taxing leaders of the Air Force’s Barksdale B-52 base about the real problem, which government leaks even now admitted—conventional drones likely operated by unfriendly powers within U.S. airspace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“I’ve got my own tasks for Amelia; your laziness is not an excuse for taxing my girl.”
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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.
