Punishing — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on

resulting in punishment

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/pˈʌnɪʃɪŋ/

🇬🇧British English

/pˈʌnɪʃɪŋ/

🇮🇳Indian English

/pˈʌnɪʃɪŋ/

3 syllables Say it as /pˈʌnɪʃɪŋ/.

Examples

The students were penalized for showing up late for class
we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again
the king imposed a punishing tax

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

backbreaking punish penalise toilsome grueling laborious heavy hard gruelling penalize arduous operose

Parts of Speech

verb	impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on “The students were penalized for showing up late for class”
adjective	resulting in punishment “the king imposed a punishing tax”
adjective	characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort “worked their arduous way up the mining valley”

Word Forms

punitive	adjective	inflicting punishment
punitory	adjective	inflicting punishment
punishment	noun	the act of punishing
penalization	noun	the act of punishing
penalisation	noun	the act of punishing
penalty	noun	the act of punishing
arduousness	noun	extreme effortfulness
hardness	noun	the quality of being difficult to do
heaviness	noun	unwelcome burdensome difficulty
labor	noun	productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
laboriousness	noun	the quality of requiring extended effort
operoseness	noun	the quality of requiring extended effort
toilsomeness	noun	the quality of requiring extended effort

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

bestrafen

eine Strafe verhängen; Strafe verhängen

🇫🇷French

punir

imposer une pénalité à ; infliger une punition à

🇪🇸Spanish

agotador

imponer una pena; infligir castigo a

🇮🇹Italian

punire

imporre una sanzione; infliggere una punizione a

🇳🇱Dutch

straffen

een boete opleggen aan; straf opleggen

🇵🇹Portuguese

punir

impor uma penalidade; infligir punição a

🇷🇺Russian

наказание

наложить штраф; наложить наказание на

India

🇮🇳Hindi

दंडित

जुर्माना लगाओ; सज़ा देना

🇧🇩Bengali

শাস্তি

একটি জরিমানা আরোপ করা; শাস্তি দেওয়া

🇮🇳Tamil

தண்டிக்கும்

அபராதம் விதிக்கவும்; தண்டனையை வழங்குங்கள்

🇮🇳Telugu

శిక్షించడం

పెనాల్టీ విధించండి; శిక్ష విధించండి

🇮🇳Marathi

शिक्षा करणे

दंड लादणे; शिक्षा द्या

🇮🇳Gujarati

સજા

પર દંડ લાદવો; પર સજા લાદવી

🇮🇳Kannada

ಶಿಕ್ಷಿಸುವುದು

ಮೇಲೆ ದಂಡ ವಿಧಿಸಿ; ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಯನ್ನು ವಿಧಿಸಿ

🇮🇳Malayalam

ശിക്ഷിക്കുന്നു

പിഴ ചുമത്തുക; ശിക്ഷ വിധിക്കുക

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਸਜ਼ਾ

'ਤੇ ਜੁਰਮਾਨਾ ਲਗਾਓ; 'ਤੇ ਸਜ਼ਾ ਦਿਓ

🇵🇰Urdu

سزا دینے والا

پر جرمانہ عائد کرنا؛ سزا دینا

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

惩罚

处以罚款；给予惩罚

🇯🇵Japanese

罰する

～にペナルティを課す。～に罰を与える

🇰🇷Korean

처벌

벌금을 부과하다; ~을 처벌하다

🇻🇳Vietnamese

trừng phạt

áp dụng hình phạt; trừng phạt

🇹🇭Thai

การลงโทษ

กำหนดโทษสำหรับ; ลงโทษต่อไป

🇮🇩Indonesian

menghukum

menjatuhkan sanksi kepada; memberikan hukuman pada

🇵🇭Filipino

nagpaparusa

magpataw ng parusa sa; magpataw ng parusa sa

🇲🇾Malay

menghukum

mengenakan penalti ke atas; menjatuhkan hukuman kepada

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

معاقبة

فرض عقوبة على؛ إيقاع العقوبة على

🇮🇷Persian

تنبیه کردن

اعمال مجازات بر؛ اعمال مجازات بر

🇹🇷Turkish

cezalandırıcı

ceza vermek; ceza vermek

🇮🇱Hebrew

עֲנִישָׁה

להטיל עונש על; להטיל עונש על

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'punishing'?

The primary meaning of 'punishing' is 'impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'punishing' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'punishing' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'punishing' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'punishing' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'punishing' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'punishing' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'punishing' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'punishing' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'punishing' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'punishing' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted