adjective
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not causing pain or distress
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not affected by pain
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of painless
Explanation
Anything that's painless doesn't hurt at all. A painless medical procedure (like having blood drawn) might be a little scary, but it's actually very easy. Getting your teeth cleaned at the dentist should be a painless process, although getting a filling sometimes hurts a little bit. A painless math test is simple and requires very little work or thought on your part — this is a figurative way to use painless, obviously, since no one would expect a math test to cause you physical pain, even if it's not your strongest subject.
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.
But they often make this process sound simple and painless.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
They traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, where they enlisted Dignitas, a Swiss nonprofit, to help Brian achieve a painless death.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
In the end, the IUD removal was easy and relatively painless, with only brief discomfort from the injection.
From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2026
The doctor at the hospital told my wife and son that I should be put on palliative care to make my final days as painless as possible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
“It won’t take long, and it will be painless, but if you want to argue about it with Kaz...”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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.
