painful


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Related to painful: painful urination

pain·ful

 (pān′fəl)
adj.
1. Full of or giving pain: a painful shoulder; painful walking.
2.
a. Causing mental anguish or suffering: It was painful for him to admit he was wrong.
b. Distressing or embarrassing: A painful silence followed his remark.
c. Requiring care and labor; difficult or irksome: a painful way of fixing the problem.
3. Marked by or requiring great care and diligence: gave the matter painful consideration.

pain′ful·ly adv.
pain′ful·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

painful

(ˈpeɪnfʊl)
adj
1. causing pain; distressing: a painful duty.
2. affected with pain: a painful leg.
3. tedious or difficult
4. informal extremely bad: a painful performance.
ˈpainfully adv
ˈpainfulness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pain•ful

(ˈpeɪn fəl)

adj.
1. affected with, causing, or characterized by pain.
2. laborious; exacting; difficult.
3. Archaic. painstaking; careful.
[1300–50]
pain′ful•ly, adv.
pain′ful•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

painful

1. 'painful'

You say that something is painful when it makes you feel pain.

My boots are still painful.
...a long and painful illness.

If a part of your body is painful, it hurts.

My back is so painful that I cannot stand upright.
My legs are stiff but not painful.
2. 'in pain'

When someone feels pain, you do not say that they are 'painful'. You say that they are in pain.

He was in pain and could not move into a comfortable position.
Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.painful - causing physical or psychological pain; "worked with painful slowness"
harmful - causing or capable of causing harm; "too much sun is harmful to the skin"; "harmful effects of smoking"
inhumane - lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion; "humans are innately inhumane; this explains much of the misery and suffering in the world"; "biological weapons are considered too inhumane to be used"
painless - not causing physical or psychological pain; "painless dentistry"
2.painful - causing misery or pain or distresspainful - causing misery or pain or distress; "it was a sore trial to him"; "the painful process of growing up"
unpleasant - disagreeable to the senses, to the mind, or feelings ; "an unpleasant personality"; "unpleasant repercussions"; "unpleasant odors"
3.painful - exceptionally bad or displeasingpainful - exceptionally bad or displeasing; "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"
bad - having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice"
4.painful - causing physical discomfort; "bites of black flies are more than irritating; they can be very painful"
uncomfortable - providing or experiencing physical discomfort; "an uncomfortable chair"; "an uncomfortable day in the hot sun"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

painful

adjective
1. sore, hurting, smarting, aching, raw, tender, throbbing, inflamed, excruciating Her glands were swollen and painful.
sore comforting, relieving, soothing, painless
3. difficult, arduous, trying, hard, severe, troublesome, laborious, vexatious the long and painful process of getting divorced
difficult easy, simple, straightforward, effortless, undemanding
4. (Informal) terrible, awful, dreadful, dire, excruciating, abysmal, gut-wrenching, godawful, extremely bad The interview was painful to watch.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

painful

adjective
1. Marked by, causing, or experiencing physical pain:
2. Difficult to accept:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
bolestivýtrapný
smertefuld
kivuliasrasittavaraskastuskallinen
bolan
fájdalmas
sársaukafullur
痛い
아픈
boleč
smärtsam
เจ็บปวด
đau đớn

painful

[ˈpeɪnfʊl] ADJ
1. (physically) [injury, swelling] → doloroso
a slow and painful deathuna muerte lenta y dolorosa
my ankle is still painfultodavía me duele el tobillo
her wrist was painful to the touchla muñeca le dolía al tocarla
was it very painful?¿te dolió mucho?
he received a painful blow on the backrecibió un golpe en la espalda que le causó un intenso dolor
2. (mentally) [memory, reminder, experience] → doloroso; [task, decision] → penoso
it will be a long and painful processserá un proceso largo y doloroso or penoso
his embarrassment was painful to witnessdaba pena ver lo abochornado que estaba
it is my painful duty to tell you thates mi penoso deber comunicarle que ..., tengo el desagradable deber de comunicarle que ...
3. (= embarrassingly bad) → fatal, de pena
her acting was so bad it was painful to watchsu actuación era tan mala que daba vergüenza ajena presenciarla, su actuación era de pena
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

painful

[ˈpeɪnfəl] adj
[joint, gland, back, leg, ankle] → douloureux/euse
a painful joint → une articulation douloureuse
is it painful? → c'est douloureux?
[illness, injury, operation] → douloureux/euse
to suffer from painful periods → souffrir de règles douloureuses
[memories, experience, process] → douloureux/euse; [reminder] → douloureux/euse
Remarks like that brought back painful memories → Des remarques comme ça rappelaient des souvenirs douloureux.
She finds it too painful to return there without him → Elle trouve ça trop douloureux de revenir là-bas sans lui.
(= embarrassingly bad) to be painful to watch [performance, interview] → faire peine à voir
The interview was painful to watch → L'interview faisait peine à voir.
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

painful

adj
(physically) injuryschmerzhaft; is it painful?tut es weh?; it’s painful to the touches tut weh, wenn man es berührt; my arm was becoming painfulmein Arm fing an zu schmerzen; my boots are still painfulmeine Stiefel drücken immer noch
(= unpleasant, distressing) task, decision, feeling, subject, factschmerzlich; process, reminder, memory, experienceschmerzlich, schmerzhaft; lessonschmerzhaft; it was painful to admit that …es war schmerzlich zuzugeben, dass…; it is my painful duty to tell you that …ich habe die traurige Pflicht, Ihnen mitteilen zu müssen, dass …; painful to beholdein qualvoller Anblick
(inf: = terrible) → peinlich; painful, isn’t it?das tut weh, was?; I went to the party but it was really painful (= boring)ich war auf der Party, aber es war zum Sterben langweilig; (= embarrassing)ich war auf der Party, eine äußerst peinliche Angelegenheit; she gave a painful performanceihre Vorführung war mehr als peinlich
(= laborious)schmerzlich; it was a long and painful processes war ein langer und schmerzlicher Prozess
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

painful

[ˈpeɪnfʊl] adj (wound) → doloroso/a; (leg) → che fa male; (task, sight, also) (fam) → penoso/a; (difficult) → difficile
it is my painful duty to tell you that ... → purtroppo ho il dovere di informarla che...
it was painful to watch (fam) → era penoso (a vedersi)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

pain

(pein) noun
hurt or suffering of the body or mind. a pain in the chest.
verb
to cause suffering or upset to (someone). It pained her to admit that she was wrong.
pained adjective
showing or expressing pain. a pained expression.
ˈpainful adjective
causing pain. a painful injury.
ˈpainfully adverb
ˈpainless adjective
without pain. painless childbirth.
ˈpainlessly adverb
ˈpainkiller noun
a drug etc which lessens or removes pain.
ˈpainstaking (ˈpeinz-) adjective
going to great trouble and taking great care. a painstaking student.
a pain in the neck
a person who is constantly annoying. People who are always complaining are a pain in the neck.
take pains
to take great trouble and care (to do something). He took great pains to make sure we enjoyed ourselves.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

painful

مُؤلِمٌ bolestivý smertefuld schmerzhaft οδυνηρός doloroso kivulias douloureux bolan doloroso 痛い 아픈 pijnlijk smertefull bolesny dolorido, doloroso болезненный smärtsam เจ็บปวด ağrılı đau đớn 疼痛的
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

painful

a. doloroso-a, penoso-a, aflictivo-a.
___ menstrual periodmenstruación ___;
___ intercoursedispareunia, relaciones sexuales ___ -as;
___ urinationdolor al orinar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

painful

adj doloroso; — procedure procedimiento doloroso
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
This fault the Lacedaemonians did not fall into, for they made their children fierce by painful labour, as chiefly useful to inspire them with courage: though, as we have already often said, this is neither the only thing nor the principal thing necessary to attend to; and even with respect to this they may not thus attain their end; for we do not find either in other animals, or other nations, that courage necessarily attends the most cruel, but rather the milder, and those who have the dispositions of lions: for there are many people who are eager both to kill men and to devour human flesh, as the Achaeans and Heniochi in Pontus, and many others in Asia, some of whom are as bad, others worse than these, who indeed live by tyranny, but are men of no courage.
"Would it be painful to you to tell me how the gentleman came to occupy the awkward position in which he stands now?"
"And the only reason she gave you was that the light caused her a painful sensation if it fell on her uncovered skin?"
And now, when weighed down by the pains and aches of old age, when the head inclines to the feet, when the beginning and ending of human existence meet, and helpless infancy and painful old age combine to- gether--at this time, this most needful time, the time for the exercise of that tenderness and affection which children only can exercise towards a declining parent--my poor old grandmother, the devoted mother of twelve children, is left all alone, in yonder little hut, before a few dim embers.
It is painful to me to be unjustly accused, and I shall see that I am not."
A KIND-HEARTED Physician sitting at the bedside of a patient afflicted with an incurable and painful disease, heard a noise behind him, and turning saw a cat laughing at the feeble efforts of a wounded mouse to drag itself out of the room.
It was swelled and painful; he ordered it to be sponged with hot water, and then some lotion was put on.
I think their presence made the closing scene of this dreadful calamity doubly painful, and doubly touching.
The latter of course she had frequently to carry on her back, in addition to the burden usually imposed upon the squaw, yet she had borne all her hardships without a murmur, and throughout this weary and painful journey had kept pace with the best of the pedestrians.
Larcher's sale, when Raffles had recognized Will Ladislaw, and when the banker had in vain attempted an act of restitution which might move Divine Providence to arrest painful consequences.
Dashwood on receiving and answering Elinor's letter would be only to give a repetition of what her daughters had already felt and said; of a disappointment hardly less painful than Marianne's, and an indignation even greater than Elinor's.
Stryver, I was about to say:--it might be painful to you to find yourself mistaken, it might be painful to Doctor Manette to have the task of being explicit with you, it might be very painful to Miss Manette to have the task of being explicit with you.