pained
Americanadjective
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hurt; injured.
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showing or expressing distress, anguish, or resentment.
a pained look in reply to a sarcastic remark.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pained
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at pain, -ed 2
Explanation
When someone is pained, they're hurt or troubled by something. If you see a boy sitting on the ground beside a battered bicycle looking pained, you should check and make sure he's okay. A pained look on someone's face might mean that they're in physical discomfort. For example, if your sister gives a pained smile after falling hard at the roller rink, she might have bruised, twisted, or even broken something. In many other cases, a pained expression conveys mental pain. When you're deeply upset about something, it's hard to react with much more than a pained smile if your friend tries to cheer you up with bad jokes.
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.
Coincidentally or not, that pained study of marital dissolution, co-starring Jolie’s then-husband Brad Pitt, intersected with the couple’s real-life breakup — not to mention Jolie’s grief over the death of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
When I was in second grade, during a parent teacher conference, my teacher was pained to tell my mother that her son would never learn to read.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
"We are deeply pained by the accident...which has preliminarily left more than 38 people injured and 3 dead," Popayan mayor Juan Carlos Munoz wrote on X.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
He could move with the grace of the tango aficionado he became or with the slow, pained gait of the cancer-ridden editor he played in “The Paper.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
Even Dad and Mother had pained expressions on their faces as they chewed.
From "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
