painstaking
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Synonym Usage
Painstaking, careful, meticulous, conscientious all describe persons or behavior demonstrating attention to detail and effective task performance. painstaking stresses diligent and assiduous attention to detail in achieving a desired objective: a painstaking technician; the painstaking editing of a manuscript. Careful , the most general in sense of these words, implies serious intent to perform well and accurately whatever task one has in hand: a careful housepainter; a careful study of the social structure of gangs. Meticulous suggests extreme attention to details, especially the most minute, coupled with an almost obsessive desire to avoid error: a meticulous silversmith, every detail finished to perfection; fussily meticulous about matching shoes and clothing. Conscientious stresses scrupulous effort to obey one's sense of moral obligation to perform tasks well: a conscientious public defender; a conscientious description of the robbery.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of painstaking
Explanation
If you notice that painstaking is composed of pains and taking, you already have a pretty clear sense of what this adjective means: to be painstaking is to be so careful, so meticulous, so thorough, that it hurts. Painstaking is most commonly paired with detail — in fact, writers might like to avoid the phrase “painstaking detail” as clichéd. In contemporary usage, the agony implied by the word often seems to be shared by both the person who makes a painstaking effort and the person confronted with the fruits of that labor: “Gertrude’s ability to appear politely interested was tested as her dinner companion related his painstaking attempts to establish himself as the true heir to the British throne.”
Vocabulary lists containing painstaking
List 8
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Hatchet
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The Haunting of Hill House
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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.
"I am deeply grateful to the Commission for their unceasing efforts to find the Disappeared, and for their painstaking efforts to help ease these families' long suffering," said Hilary Benn.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
For decades, a small program in the Environmental Protection Agency conducted the painstaking scientific work of assessing the toxicity of chemicals.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
A decided positivism—the painstaking naturalism of the pre-Darwinian life sciences, with their attention to the taxonomy, function and illustration of biological forms—made itself felt in his work habits and in his meticulous drawings.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
The challenge for management, directors and investors is to have patience through this painstaking process while simultaneously kicking the tires and asking all the right questions during the building process.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
Finally, after painstaking research through old books of Wizarding families, he discovered the existence of Slytherin’s surviving line.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
