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
- overpainful adjective
- overpainfully adverb
- overpainfulness noun
- painfully adverb
- painfulness noun
- unpainful adjective
- unpainfully adverb
Etymology
Origin of 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.
Of course they would love to have him back and readmitting Koepka would help the established order administer a painful retaliatory jab that could set up a potential knockout blow to the disrupting upstarts.
From BBC
But both still carry interest-rate risks, a factor that has been painful in the recent past for investors.
From MarketWatch
But United couldn't muster a late escape as Lacey, already on a booking, brought a fitting end to a painful defeat when he was sent off for throwing the ball away in frustration.
From Barron's
If oil prices fall much further, the U.S. fossil-fuel industry will feel a painful pinch again, oil executives said.
"That is very, very difficult, really painful," he told Sky Sports.
From BBC
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.
