gerund / present participle
Making someone suffer or lose something because they did something wrong or broke a rule.
Punishing people for honest mistakes can discourage them.
The coach is punishing the players for ignoring the rules.
American English
How to pronounce punishing
verb · adjectiveB1Common word
PUHnihshihng
/ˈpʰə.nɪ.ʃɪŋ/
3 syllables · Stress the first syllable.
Form of punish
Punishing can be used as a gerund or present participle and also as an adjective before a noun.
Making someone suffer or lose something because they did something wrong or broke a rule.
Practice out loudMeanings & examples
gerund / present participle
Making a person or part of the body suffer a lot through hard physical activity or repeated attack.
Punishing your body every day can lead to injuries.
The boxer kept punishing his opponent in the final round.
adjective
Very harsh and intended to impose a penalty for wrongdoing.
The court imposed a punishing sentence for the crime.
The new law sets punishing fines for repeated violations.
adjective
Very difficult, tiring, or painful, and causing a lot of suffering.
The hikers faced a punishing climb in the heat.
She kept a punishing schedule during the campaign.