DictionaryAI

pain

PAYN/peɪn/

Pluralpains

Verbpains, paining, pained

8 meanings of pain

Practice

  1. 1
    physical feelingnouncountable or uncountable
    An unpleasant physical feeling caused by injury, illness, childbirth, or something going wrong in the body.

    A dull pain spread across his lower back as the day wore on.

    Doctors asked her to rate the pain on a scale from one to ten.

    UsageOften in pain, with no article (she was in pain); for one place, a pain in my back.

    Oppositerelief, comfort

    Note

    The everyday bodily sense, though not the word's first one. The older idea of penalty survives in the "penalty" meaning.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  2. 2
    heartachenoununcountable
    Mental suffering or anguish; deep emotional distress or torment.

    The pain of betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound.

    Years after the war, the pain of those memories had not faded.

    UsageOften the pain of + a cause: the pain of betrayal, the pain of losing someone.

    Similardistress, anguish, grief, torment, hardship

    Oppositejoy, happiness, pleasure, comfort

    Note

    Tennyson's In Memoriam (1850) shows it at its fullest: "I should tell him all my pain," where the word holds everything a mourner carries.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Alfred Tennyson wrote In Memoriam, first published in 1850. en.wikisource.org
    • The quoted words occur in the mourning speaker's account in In Memoriam, section XIV. gutenberg.org
  3. 3
    nuisancenouncolloquialcountable
    An annoying or troublesome person or thing.

    Assembling the new furniture turned out to be a real pain.

    The new neighbor is a pain about where everyone parks.

    UsageOften a real pain or such a pain; the full phrase is a pain in the neck.

    Similarnuisance, annoyance, bother, pest, hassle

    Oppositejoy, delight, pleasure

    Note

    A clipped form of pain in the neck, and it keeps that phrase's casual register. It suits a person and a situation equally well: a mother, or a train change at Grimsby Town on match day, which RAIL magazine (2024) called "a real pain." Pest is its nearest synonym.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The annoying-person-or-thing sense is shortened from pain in the neck. en.wiktionary.org
    • The cited RAIL passage was published in 2024. en.wiktionary.org
    • RAIL described football supporters having to change trains at Grimsby Town as a real pain. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    make sadverbtransitive
    To cause someone pain or distress, whether in body or mind; to hurt or grieve.

    His harsh words pained her more than she was willing to admit.

    It would pain her parents to learn that she had dropped out of college.

    UsageOften it pains me to + verb: it pains me to say this.

    Similarhurt, grieve, distress, upset, wound

    Oppositeplease, delight, comfort

    Note

    This verb is a favorite way to voice reluctant regret: it pains me to say, it pains me to admit. That object position sets it apart from the Indian English intransitive, where the sufferer or the sore body part is the subject.

  5. 5
    effortnouncountable or uncountableplural
    Effort, labor, or careful trouble taken in doing something.

    He took considerable pains over the wording of the letter.

    For all her pains, the project was canceled at the last minute.

    UsageMostly in take pains to do something, take great pains over it and for your pains.

    Similareffort, work, exertion

    Note

    The plural keeps the meaning clear. Took pains over the letter means care and effort, while the singular more readily suggests hurt. For one's pains usually introduces a meager reward for the effort, as in all he got for his pains.

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    be soreverbIndiaintransitive
    To hurt or be in pain, said of a person or of a part of the body.

    After the overnight bus journey, my lower back is paining badly.

    Her knees pain every time she climbs the stairs to the third floor.

    Similarache, hurt, suffer, agonize

    Note

    Indian English uses the verb without an object and lets the aching part do the hurting: my head is paining, it is paining here, doctor.

  2. 7
    penaltynoundateduncountable
    Suffering imposed as a punishment or penalty for wrongdoing.

    Soldiers were forbidden to desert their posts on pain of execution.

    We will, by way of mulct or pain, lay it upon him.
    1629, Francis Bacon, An Advertisement Touching a Holy War

    UsageMostly in on pain of + the penalty: on pain of death.

    Similarpenalty, punishment

    Note

    The sense closest to the word's roots: Latin poena meant "punishment" as well as "pain," and behind it lies Greek poinē, blood-money or a penalty paid. Dryden still wrote on pain of infamy in 1690, and Bacon paired pain with mulct, a fine.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  3. 8
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To punish someone by inflicting suffering as a penalty.
    Note

    A verb form of the "penalty" meaning that has not survived. A reader who meets it in old texts should read punish, not hurt. The noun still carries that idea in on pain of, but in new writing use punish or penalize for the verb.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Pain formerly had the verb sense ‘punish’, which is now obsolete. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pain apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This sense came from Middle English peyne, from Old French and Anglo-Norman peine, from Latin poena ('punishment, pain'), which came from Ancient Greek poinḗ ('bloodmoney, fine, penalty, price paid'), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'payment'. It is related to German Pein and Dutch pijn.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

  • English pain comes from Middle English peyne, through Old French and Anglo-Norman peine. en.wiktionary.org
  • The French forms derive from Latin poena, meaning punishment or pain. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin poena was borrowed from Ancient Greek poinḗ, meaning penalty, fine or bloodmoney. en.wiktionary.org
  • Ancient Greek poinḗ also meant price paid. en.wikipedia.org
  • The word ultimately derives from a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form meaning payment. en.wiktionary.org
  • English pain is etymologically related to German Pein and Dutch pijn. en.wiktionary.org