painful
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- distressing, disagreeable, distasteful, grievous, unpleasant
- sore, aching, agonizing, smarting, tender
- difficult, arduous, hard, laborious, troublesome, trying

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Antonyms: painless, unpainful
Related Words: raw, acute, piercing, sharp, shooting, stabbing, stinging, agonizing, excruciating, harrowing, racking, tormenting, torturous, unappetizing, unsavory

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English Thesaurus: painful, tender, stiff, sor

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

pain‧ful /ˈpeɪnfəl/ adjective
[Word Family: adjective: pained, painful ≠ painless; verb: pain; noun: pain; adverb: painfully ≠ painlessly]

1. if a part of your body is painful, it hurts:
stiff painful joints
Is your arm very painful?
The neck becomes swollen and painful to the touch (=hurts when you touch it).

2. making you feel very upset, or very difficult and unpleasant for you Antonym : painless
painful memories/experience etc
He sobbed as he recalled the painful memory.
Venice was a painful reminder of her marriage.
He and his wife took the painful decision to switch off their son’s life support machine.
the long and painful process of growing up
painful to do something
It can be painful to leave the house in which you were born.
painful for/to
The divorce was painful for both of us.
Even hearing his name was painful to her.

3. causing physical pain:
a painful blow on the head
excruciatingly/extremely painful
an excruciatingly painful death
painful to do something
He was finding it painful to breathe.

4. if someone’s behaviour or a performance is painful, it is so bad that it embarrasses people
painful to watch/listen to/hear etc
It’s painful to watch her making the best of a terrible script.
HINT:
► Do not use painful to mean ‘feeling pain’: He didn’t feel much pain (NOT feel very painful) at first.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

painful
adj.
VERBS be, look, seem | become, get | find sth She found it unbearably painful to speak.
ADV. acutely, excruciatingly, extremely, intensely, particularly, terribly, unbearably, very | increasingly | almost | pretty, quite, rather, slightly, somewhat | potentially | emotionally, physically
PREP. to The subject of his failed marriage was quite painful to him.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

painful

a painful memory
The photograph brought back painful memories.
a painful experience
It must have been a painful experience for you.
a painful process
It was just part of the painful process of growing up.
a painful time/period
The US is in for a painful period of adjustment.
a painful decision
I made the painful decision to move far away from my family.
a painful reminder
The violence is a painful reminder that many issues have not yet been resolved.
the painful truth
We won’t be able to keep the painful truth from the children.
painful feelings/emotions
Patients are encouraged to talk about their painful feelings.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

painful
adjective
BAD: The operation was successful but I still feel very painful.
GOOD: The operation was successful but I still feel a lot of pain.

Usage Note:
painful = causing pain: 'The finger I trapped in the door is still very painful.' 'The child wriggled free and gave me a painful kick on the ankle.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

painful used for describing a part of the body that hurts:
Her leg is still painful where she broke it.
painful joints
She was suffering from painful stomach cramps.
tender painful when touched:
The skin around the wound is very tender.
stiff painful and difficult to move:
I’ve got a stiff neck.
Her body was stiff from sitting in the car for so long.
sore painful as a result of a wound, infection, or too much exercise:
sore muscles
a sore throat
The wound was sore and red.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲