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.
Investors who have rotated into markets such as South Korea or Europe might face a painful drawdown on their recent gains.
From Barron's
Just as the painful moments of her life took shape at an early age, so too did a refuge from it.
From Los Angeles Times
The forward began struggling with a painful, recurring groin issue at the end of last season.
From BBC
But analysts warned that the longer it goes on the more painful it would be as supply chains are hit and prices surge.
From Barron's
Yet investors also have been gripped by concerns that artificial intelligence could overtake the software industry, make other business lines obsolete and trigger painful white-collar job losses.
From MarketWatch
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.
