painstaking

[peynz-tey-king, peyn-stey-] / ˈpeɪnzˌteɪ kɪŋ, ˈpeɪnˌsteɪ- /

ADJECTIVE

meticulous, thorough

Synonyms

STRONGEST

assiduous careful conscientious diligent earnest exacting scrupulous strenuous

STRONG

detail-oriented

WEAK

by the book by the numbers conscionable exact finicky fussbudget fussy hard-working heedful industrious particular persevering persnickety picky punctilious punctual sedulous stickler thoroughgoing

Antonyms

STRONGEST

careless lazy lethargic negligent thoughtless uncareful unconcerned unenthusiastic unscrupulous

WEAK

easy half-baked half-done unmindful unthorough

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.

When the U.S. has looked to clear mines in the past, it’s been a painstaking process.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

Through painstaking renovations and a bit of reality TV magic.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026

His decades of painstaking research helped lead to a push in the 1990s for the Air Force to come clean on what it had been doing: testing spy balloons and recovering crash dummies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

At the same time, low-paid workers there have long been carrying out the unseen and painstaking task of manually categorising the vast amounts of data used to train the world's AI tools.

From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026

This was done in a leisurely, painstaking manner; yet the people in the hall were charged with passion; a sense of human destiny lived; an atmosphere of human frailty was present.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Vocabulary lists containing painstaking

List 8

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Hatchet

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

The Haunting of Hill House

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!