painful
- 01 B1 Intermediate
causing physical pain in your body.
causing physical suffering or discomfort to the body.
Simple“My ankle is still very painful after I tripped on the stairs yesterday.”
In context“The patient described a sharp, painful sensation in his lower back that intensified whenever he attempted to lift heavy objects.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
causing mental or emotional sadness and upset.
evoking mental or emotional distress, grief, or discomfort.
Simple“It was a painful memory that she didn't like to talk about.”
In context“The documentary offered a painful look at the lives of refugees, forcing the audience to confront the harsh realities of displacement.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
requiring a lot of effort or being very slow and difficult.
characterised by effort, difficulty, or tediousness.
Simple“The recovery was a long and painful process for the whole family.”
In context“The transition to the new software system was a painful experience for the staff, involving weeks of troubleshooting and overtime.”
Antonyms - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
extremely boring, bad, or embarrassing to watch or experience.
colloquially used to describe something of exceptionally poor quality or something that is socially awkward to witness.
Simple“The comedian's jokes were so bad that the whole show was painful to watch.”
In context“The local theatre production was frankly painful, with actors frequently forgetting their lines and missing their cues throughout the first act.”
Antonyms
From Middle English paynful, peinful, peynful, paynefull, peynefull, equivalent to pain + -ful. Compare Danish pinefuld (“painful”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.