pain

[ peyn ]

/ peɪn /

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See synonyms for: pain / pained / pains on Thesaurus.com

noun

physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc.

a distressing sensation in a particular part of the body: a back pain.

mental or emotional suffering or torment: I am sorry my news causes you such pain.

pains,

laborious or careful efforts; assiduous care: Great pains have been taken to repair the engine perfectly.
the suffering of childbirth.

Informal. an annoying or troublesome person or thing.

verb (used with object)

to cause physical pain to; hurt.

to cause (someone) mental or emotional pain; distress: Your sarcasm pained me.

verb (used without object)

to have or give pain.

OTHER WORDS FOR pain

1-3 torture, misery, torment.

2 pang, twinge, stitch.

7 afflict, torment; trouble, grieve.

See synonyms for pain on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR pain

3 joy, delight.

7 please.

See antonyms for pain on Thesaurus.com

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Question 1 of 7

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Idioms about pain

feel no pain, Informal. to be intoxicated: After all that free beer, we were feeling no pain.

on / upon / under pain of, liable to the penalty of: on pain of death.

pain in the ass, Slang: Vulgar. pain (def. 5).

pain in the neck, Informal. pain (def. 5).

Origin of pain

1250–1300; Middle English peine punishment, torture, pain <Old French <Latin poena penalty, pain <Greek poinḗ penalty

synonym study for pain

1-3. Pain , ache , agony , anguish are terms for sensations causing suffering or torment. Pain and ache usually refer to physical sensations (except heartache ); agony and anguish may be physical or mental. Pain suggests a sudden sharp twinge: a pain in one's ankle. Ache applies to a continuous pain, whether acute or dull: headache; muscular aches. Agony implies a continuous, excruciating, scarcely endurable pain: in agony from a wound. Anguish suggests not only extreme and long-continued pain, but also a feeling of despair. 4a. See care.

OTHER WORDS FROM pain

un·der·pain, nounun·pain·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pain in a sentence

Hayes, whose face had turned gray, informed Strickland he didn’t feel well — the first person he told about his pain.
A high school football coach had a heart attack during a game, but didn’t leave until it was done|Kyle Melnick|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Try evaluating your pain on a scale of one to ten, Spinelli recommends, and keep it below a three while you work out.
Strength Training for Lower-Back Pain|Lauren Bedosky|November 18, 2020|Outside Online
One of Jalal’s customers, Janis Murphy, needs oxycodone to walk without pain.
Patients struggle to access prescription opioids after New York tax drives away suppliers|lbelanger225|November 15, 2020|Fortune
Unless we do that, quickly, all this pain and effort will be wasted.
If we don’t vaccinate the world quickly, all our COVID efforts will be a waste|jakemeth|November 12, 2020|Fortune

Even the post-iOS-7 Yosemite update took pains to keep most things in the same place as it changed their look.
macOS 11.0 Big Sur: The Ars Technica review|Andrew Cunningham|November 12, 2020|Ars Technica
It bled little; Grettir slept well that night and three days passed without its paining him.
Grettir The Strong|Unknown
Charley would have liked to have made the trip himself, but his arm was paining him so intensely that he decided to remain behind.
The Boy Chums in the Florida Jungle|Wilmer M. Ely
They said nothing except that King said he believed his left leg was broken, and it was paining him a good deal.
The Golden Boys and Their New Electric Cell|L. P. Wyman
As we grew older we grew afraid of paining her with questions.
My Little Sister|Elizabeth Robins
His right hand was bleeding vigorously and paining a good deal, but his finger was still on the trigger and Wilbur fired again.
The Boy With the U. S. Foresters|Francis Rolt-Wheeler

British Dictionary definitions for pain

pain

/ (peɪn) /

noun

the sensation of acute physical hurt or discomfort caused by injury, illness, etc

emotional suffering or mental distress

on pain of subject to the penalty of

Also called: pain in the neck, (taboo) pain in the arse informal a person or thing that is a nuisance

verb (tr)

to cause (a person) distress, hurt, grief, anxiety, etc

informal to annoy; irritate

Word Origin for pain

C13: from Old French peine, from Latin poena punishment, grief, from Greek poinē penalty

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with pain

pain

In addition to the idioms beginning with pain

pain in the neck

also see:

at pains
feel no pain
for one's pains
growing pains
no pain, no gain
on pain of

pain

OTHER WORDS FOR pain

OPPOSITES FOR pain

Idioms about pain

Origin of pain

synonym study for pain

OTHER WORDS FROM pain

Words related to pain

How to use pain in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pain

Word Origin for pain

Other Idioms and Phrases with pain