painful

adjective

pain·​ful ˈpān-fəl 

painfuller ˈpān-fə-lər  ; painfullest

1

a

: feeling or giving pain

a painful injury

b

: irksome, annoying

2

: requiring effort or exertion

a long painful trip

3

archaic : careful, diligent

painfully

ˈpān-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

painfulness

ˈpān-fəl-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of painful

• sore
• aching
• hurting

Examples of painful in a Sentence

I got a painful sunburn.

We can't ignore our country's painful history of slavery.

His questions brought up a lot of painful memories.

It was painful to watch.

Recent Examples on the Web

But to discover yourself outpaced by a reality that bears an uncanny resemblance to your own fiction seems to be a particularly painful indignity to bear, a kind of spiritual ransacking. —Literary Hub, 18 Dec. 2025

One set of scenes in his 2009 book, Footnotes in Gaza, exemplifies this, revealing how testimony about painful events can diverge among witnesses, even within a family. —Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2025

In many companies, a large number of IT issues go unreported because the process feels too painful. —Muddu Sudhakar, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025

Officials say father-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram journeyed to a southern part of the archipelago nation that has endured a painful history of Islamic extremism. —Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing painful

• painful to the touch

Rhymes for painful

• gainful
• disdainful

Kids Definition

painful

adjective

pain·​ful ˈpān-fəl 

: feeling or giving pain

painfully

-f(ə-)lē 

adverb

painfulness

-fəl-nəs 

noun

Medical Definition

painful

adjective

pain·​ful ˈpān-fəl 

painfuller -fə-lər  ; painfullest

: feeling or giving pain

painfully

-f(ə-)lē 

adverb