TAK-sing
/ˈtæksɪŋ/
taxing is pronounced TAK-sing (/ˈtæksɪŋ/). Taxing describes something that imposes a heavy burden or demand, requiring significant effort or resources. It can refer to physical exertion, mental strain, or difficult circumstances that exhaust or test one's endurance. The term often conveys a sense of pressure, challenge, or taxing workload.
Taxing describes something that imposes a heavy burden or demand, requiring significant effort or resources. It can refer to physical exertion, mental strain, or difficult circumstances that exhaust or test one's endurance. The term often conveys a sense of pressure, challenge, or taxing workload.
"Climbing the steep trail proved taxing on his knees and lungs."
"The project was financially taxing, draining her savings over months."
"Her duties at the clinic became taxing as patient numbers rose."
Pronounce as two syllables: TAX-ing. Primary stress on the first syllable. IPA US/UK: /ˈtæk.sɪŋ/. The first vowel is a low front lax /æ/ as in cat, the second is a reduced /ɪ/ in a typical unstressed position, ending with /ŋ/. Keep the tongue high-front for /æ/ and finish with a velar nasal /ŋ/. Audio examples: you’ll hear the emphasis on TAX and a quick, lighter -ing.
Common errors: replacing /æ/ with /e/ or /i/ as in ‘tech-ing’ (incorrect vowel) and pronouncing the final /ŋ/ as a hard 'ng' with full syllabic release. Another mistake is reducing the first vowel to a schwa in fast speech. Corrections: ensure /æ/ in TAX; keep /t/ crisp and avoid voicing intrusion; seal the lips and raise the back of the tongue for /æ/, then glide quickly into /s/ or /z/ depending on rhythm; finish with a clean /ŋ/ without adding a vowel after. Practice with a slow-to-fast transition, prioritizing the /æ/ and /ŋ/ clarity.
US: /ˈtæk.sɪŋ/ with a flat, rhotic rhythm and clear /æ/; UK: /ˈtæksɪŋ/ with a slightly sharper /æ/ and a more clipped /s/; AU: /ˈtæksɪŋ/ similar to UK but with subtle lengthening on the first vowel in some regional accents. Rhoticity is generally non-rhotic in the UK, affecting post-vocalic r sounds that aren’t central here. Across all, the second syllable is unstressed, with a reduced /ɪ/ and a velar nasal /ŋ/. Watch the /æ/ quality and avoid turning it into /e/ or /ɜ/ in any accent.
Key difficulty lies in the short, lax /æ/ before a voiceless /k/ cluster followed by /s/ and the final /ŋ/. The combination of /æk/ with /s/ can blur into /æksɪŋ/ if you don’t separate the k and s clearly. The /ɪ/ in the second syllable is reduced; keeping it slightly lighter helps avoid a diphthong-like sound. Also, rapid speech can fuse /k/ and /s/ into a single alveolar stop-like sound.
One distinctive feature is the consonant cluster /ks/ in the first syllable after /æ/. Unlike many two-syllable words where /t/ and /k/ are separate, the sequence in taxing requires crisp /t/ followed immediately by an /s/; maintain a small release from /t/ into /s/ to avoid a blended sound. Another aspect is maintaining the light, short /ɪ/ in the second syllable while not letting it become an overt vowel; you’ll hear the word as TAX-ing with a quick, compact second syllable.
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Taxing comes from the noun tax, from Old French taxe, derived from Latin taxare meaning to estimate, value, or charge. The verb tax has long meant to impose a burden or levy, with the participial form taxing evolving to describe the act of imposing such burdens in progressive or ongoing form. The sense of requiring effort or exertion began to be used more broadly in the 17th–18th centuries as burdens or demands became described as ‘taxing’ to describe something that tests stamina or resources. First known uses in English align with general burdens or levies, and by the 19th century the sense extended to mental or emotional strain as occupations, tasks, and situations became described as taxing. The word’s morphology mirrors its action: a root burden extended into an adjective that characterizes the degree of exertion or pressure. In modern usage, taxing commonly appears in contexts of workload, physical effort, or complex tasks that draw heavily on capacity. Its first recorded appearances reflect legal, fiscal contexts, but now spans everyday language. Overall, the word flows from the concept of taxation as a forced burden to any situation requiring considerable effort or endurance, and retains this core meaning in contemporary usage.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "taxing" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "taxing"
-ing sounds
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