# punching vs punishing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### punching
*noun · IPA /ˈpʌnt͡ʃɪŋ/ · frequency rank #11,767*
gerund of punch

### punishing
*adjective · IPA /ˈpʌnɪʃɪŋ/ · frequency rank #15,038*
That punishes physically and/or mentally; arduous, gruelling, demanding.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/punching-vs-punishing