painful

adjective

PAYN-fuhl/ˈpeɪn.fəl/

5 meanings of painful

1
adjective
Causing hurt to your body or your feelings.
Like touching something hot that makes you pull your hand away fast.
The cut on her knee was very painful.
Saying goodbye to old friends can be painful.
Similaragonizing, excruciating, unpleasant, hurtful, terrible
Oppositepainless
Note
2
adjective
Sore and hurting, said about a part of the body.
She rubbed her painful shoulder after the long drive.
His painful tooth kept him awake all night.
Similarsorrowful, doleful, annoying, irksome
Oppositepainless
Note
3
adjective
Needing a lot of hard work and effort.
Climbing the steep hill was slow and painful work.
Learning to read can be a painful process at first.
Similarlaborious
Oppositeeasy, effortless, painless
4
adjectivecolloquial
Very bad or of poor quality.
The band's first show was painful to watch.
His attempt at cooking dinner was honestly painful.
Similarawful, terrible, dreadful, excruciating, atrocious
Oppositeexcellent, brilliant, superb, great

Less common meaning

5
adjectivearchaic
Working hard and taking great care over things.
The painful clerk checked every line of the ledger twice.
For twenty generations, here was the earthly arena where painful living men worked out their life-wrestle
1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and PresentHere, painful means hardworking and careful.
Note

Practice

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

Origin

It comes from the Middle English word paynful, made from "pain" plus "-ful."