painfully[adverb]Synonyms: distressingly, clearly, dreadfully, sadly, unfortunately
Antonyms: painlessly
[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
pain‧ful‧ly /ˈpeɪnf
əli/
adverb [
Word Family: adjective:
pained,
painful ≠
painless;
verb:
pain;
noun:
pain;
adverb:
painfully ≠
painlessly]
1. very – used to emphasize a bad or harmful quality that someone or something has:
painfully thin arms As a teenager, I was painfully shy. The road to peace is a painfully slow process. We are only too painfully aware of the damage his actions have caused.painfully obvious/clear/evident/apparent It was painfully obvious he’d rather not see her again.2. with pain or causing pain:
Robyn swallowed painfully.3. needing a lot of effort:
all the knowledge that he had so painfully acquired [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲