punishing vs toilsome

punishing and toilsome both are adjectives.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
punishing	No	Yes	No	No
toilsome	No	Yes	No	No

As adjectives, punishing and toilsome are synonyms defined as:

punishing and toilsome: characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort

Other synonyms of punishing include arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose.

punishing (adjective)	toilsome (adjective)
resulting in punishment	characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort