painful
Americanadjective
-
affected with, causing, or characterized by pain.
a painful wound; a painful night; a painful memory.
- Synonyms:
- excruciating, agonizing
-
laborious; exacting; difficult.
a painful life.
- Synonyms:
- arduous
- Antonyms:
- easy
-
Archaic. painstaking; careful.
adjective
-
causing pain; distressing
a painful duty
-
affected with pain
a painful leg
-
tedious or difficult
-
informal extremely bad
a painful performance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of painful
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at pain, -ful
Explanation
Anything painful hurts a lot — either physically or emotionally. Your sprained ankle may be painful, but so is your broken heart. When something is physically painful, it hurts your body in some way, like a painful burn or a painful paper cut. Other things hurt just as much, but in an emotional way, like a painful separation from your cat when you go to summer camp. You can also use this adjective informally to mean really bad: "The wedding band's attempt at 'Stairway to Heaven' was just painful."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The second is that however painful higher prices are for individuals, collectively the spending picture looks to be on firm ground.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Now I've got the car, it feels very painful, but a long way to go.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
“I’m glad there are doctors that are really taking the fact that these procedures can be incredibly painful into consideration,” said Danovich.
From Slate • Jun. 7, 2026
When the eggs hatch into maggots, the maggots eat live tissue, causing a worsening, often painful and foul-smelling wound, according to the CDC.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
Ella felt sad and worried for him, thinking about how painful it must've been.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
