How to Use painful in a Sentence

painful

adjective

• It was painful to watch.
• I got a painful sunburn.
• His questions brought up a lot of painful memories.
• We can't ignore our country's painful history of slavery.
• His girlfriend arc early in the series is painful, for instance.
  — Erik Kain, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
• In that way, his absence was painful — the Pacers lost wins and development.
  — Tony East, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023
• The bikini area and underarms also tend to be painful because the skin is thinner in these spots, the experts explain.
  — Leah Campano, Seventeen, 21 Mar. 2023
• Using a blackhead removal tool should never be painful, so use light pressure and push the clogged pore upward, Paul explains.
  — Katie Intner, Harper's BAZAAR, 28 Feb. 2023
• For members of Delevingne’s family, witnessing this brilliant yet deeply troubled young woman on the verge was painful.
  — Chioma Nnadi, Vogue, 8 Mar. 2023
• While the testing is necessary to determine what complications a child may have later in life, separating parents and children so soon after birth is painful.
  — Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2023
• Cons: Sugar waxing can be painful and have side effects similar to waxing, including skin irritation, redness, and ingrown hairs.
  — Heather L. Brannon, Md, Verywell Health, 22 Mar. 2023
• Even so, a deal was a better outcome than the alternative: a wind-down that would have been painful for the whole financial system and one that could have harmed the reputation of banking in Switzerland.
  — Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2023
• Lehane established a war room with the primary goal of convincing politicians that the political consequences of being anti-crypto would be intensely painful.
  — Charles Duhigg, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
• Slide the painful foot back, and plant the heel to the floor.
  — Cori Ritchey, Men's Health, 8 Apr. 2023
• The most painful part, many said, was being in the dark about their fate.
  — Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
• Back home, the gloom of a painful work stoppage seemed far away.
  — Todd Robinson, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Aug. 2023
• No one gets over that kind of trauma and the most painful scars are the ones people don’t see.
  — Joseph Goodman | [e-mail], al, 10 July 2023
• As with any machine, some changes, more or less painful, had to be made.
  — Byadrian Cho, science.org, 4 May 2023
• Well, there were some moments with the Dragos that were [painful to cut].
  — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 June 2023
• In a painful stroke of irony, the United States would respond in part with a spell of infamy of its own.
  — Cynthia Teniente-Matson, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2024
• Bowman said even twisting the wrong way can be painful.
  — Mark Heim | [e-mail], al, 28 May 2023
• Those who did tune in were faced with a spectacle painful to watch.
  — Shelby Grad, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2024
• In the Woman in Me, Spears opens up about the painful experience.
  — Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 19 Oct. 2023
• The girl’s call for help lasted for more than 21 minutes and is painful to listen to.
  — Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 9 Sep. 2023
• This has been the most painful and difficult challenge of my life.
  — Annie Lane, Anchorage Daily News, 11 July 2023
• The sight of it was so painful for her parents that Sisco could barely walk in.
  — Julia Prodis Sulek, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2024
• Some even say that tweezing and waxing are more painful.
  — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 13 Nov. 2023
• But that often painful process taught me that failure is okay.
  — Max Gellert, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
• The Great Recession brought an abrupt, painful end to a golden age of American retail, built on networks of shopping malls and biannual discounts.
  — Lindsey Leake, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2024
• Depending on the cause, home remedies or medical treatments can relieve painful swallowing.
  — Laura Schober, Health, 12 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 28 Oct 2024