painful

[peyn-fuhl] / ˈpeɪn fəl /

ADJECTIVE

physically or mentally agonizing

Synonyms

STRONGEST

agonizing arduous awful difficult dire distasteful distressing excruciating hard harrowing heart-wrenching hurtful severe tedious terrible troublesome uncomfortable unpleasant

WEAK

aching afflictive biting burning caustic disagreeable dreadful extreme extremely bad grievous hurting inflamed irritated laborious piercing raw saddening sensitive sharp smarting sore stinging tender throbbing tormenting trying vexatious

Antonyms

STRONGEST

agreeable calm easy facile friendly good great helpful mild nice pleasant pleasing simple wonderful

WEAK

delightful painless

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 school heads had been warned by the department that they could face "painful cuts" as a result of the budget.

From BBC

Paul, 58, from Flint, said his life had "become a lot less painful" and a lot of his worries had been "taken away" by staff caring for him.

From BBC

"It's painful to lose. We just need to keep making improvements, which I'm seeing from the first leg to the second."

From Barron's

The painful, and sometimes scary, parts of the process are often overshadowed by successful birth, leaving viewers with a rosy portrayal of the experience.

From The Wall Street Journal

There's brilliance but there's also painful weakness - soft beginnings to Tests, panic when well on top, overplaying, error counts, poor discipline adding pressure, players going off script, chances butchered, lack of mental resilience.

From BBC

painful

Example Sentences

Related Words