pains·tak·ing
ˈpān-ˌstā-kiŋ 
: taking pains : expending, showing, or involving diligent care and effort
painstaking research
painstaking tasks
painstaking accuracy
: the action of taking pains : diligent care and effort
… greater painstaking to achieve incidental verisimilitude and accuracy of detail …—
Times Literary Supplement
Times Literary SupplementExamples of painstaking in a Sentence
Adjective
The book describes the election process in painstaking detail.
she was always painstaking about her work
Recent Examples on the Web
Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
The painstaking renovation has led the Tonidandel-Brown restaurant group to become a leader in the city’s preservation movement, taking on moving a historic building and renovating another soon-to-be-open restaurant set in a former church, Leluia Hall.
—Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 30 Jan. 2025
Both films are the result of painstaking work by leading filmmakers, but their journeys have been different.
—Karen Idelson, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025
The traffic on Figueroa and any surrounding streets slowed to a painstaking crawl.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for painstaking
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Adjective
Our devastation of nature is so deep and vast that to reverse its effects, on any front, often entails efforts that are so painstaking and quixotic as to border on the ridiculous.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
The painstaking renovation has led the Tonidandel-Brown restaurant group to become a leader in the city’s preservation movement, taking on moving a historic building and renovating another soon-to-be-open restaurant set in a former church, Leluia Hall.
—Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 30 Jan. 2025
Both films are the result of painstaking work by leading filmmakers, but their journeys have been different.
—Karen Idelson, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025
The traffic on Figueroa and any surrounding streets slowed to a painstaking crawl.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for painstaking
Cite this Entry
“Painstaking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/painstaking. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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