Synonyms of punishing

punishing 1 of 2

adjective

as in punitive

Related Words

• punitive
• advisory
• counseling
• moralistic
• didactic
• admonishing
• moralizing
• warning
• admonitory
• monitory
• cautionary
• exemplary
• premonitory
• cautioning

punishing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of punish

as in penalizing

to inflict a penalty on for a fault or crime

the child was punished for breaking dishes on purpose

if caught, the thief will be severely punished

Synonyms & Similar Words

• penalizing
• fining
• disciplining
• criticizing
• sentencing
• correcting
• chastising
• convicting
• assessing
• castigating
• imposing
• chastening
• condemning
• charging
• levying
• reprimanding
• denouncing
• mulcting
• docking
• rebuking
• damning
• wreaking
• reproving
• keelhauling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sparing
• excusing
• pardoning
• forfeiting
• releasing
• commuting
• getting off
• ransoming
• vindicating
• exonerating
• acquitting
• absolving
• exculpating
• reprieving

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of punishing

Adjective

The tragedy unfolds amid a punishing Western wildfire season driven by dry weather, scant snowpack, heat and erratic winds. — Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2026

Pair him with Sharpe, and the Nets could build one of the league’s most punishing center rotations on the glass. — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 26 June 2026

Instead, left under the most punishing economic sanctions Cubans have known in their lives, the island may slowly wither and die. — Patrick Oppmann, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026

First introduced in 1944, the multi-purpose off-roader with portal axles has been used as the basis for military, emergency, and commercial vehicles in some of the most punishing environments around the world. — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 18 Dec. 2025

But the new government, led by former rebels who toppled Bashar al-Assad, is urging US lawmakers to repeal the most punishing sanctions isolating Syria from the world economy. — Natasha Bracken, semafor.com, 13 Nov. 2025

Verb

In the component-supply world, the cost of changing over a production line to make a variant product is usually punishing, which forces suppliers into rigid catalog-SKU models. — John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

But any votes on formally punishing Miller or Edwards will have to wait until September; the House is on its August recess now. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Years of punishing international sanctions and economic crises have hollowed out Venezuela’s once-thriving oil industry. — Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026

Zelenskyy spoke with lawmakers late Tuesday evening ahead of a Senate vote on a punishing new Russia sanctions package, which advanced toward a final vote expected next week. — Lisa Mascaro, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2026

The Nashville mainstay is a spicy foil to the city’s milder tradition, the meat-and-three, which frequently centers fried chicken that doesn’t deliver a punishing heat known to linger in the esophagus for days. — Ellen Fort, Bon Appetit Magazine, 31 July 2026

The Chiefs’ 2026 NFL schedule sends them through a punishing second-half gauntlet as Kansas City looks to rebound from a 6-11 season. — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2026

This is not his first example of using federal funds to reward red states while punishing blue ones. — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026

My dad, who lives in Cairo, told me the heat this summer has been punishing. — Malaka Gharib, NPR, 25 July 2026