pain point

noun

plural pain points

: a persistent or recurring problem (as with a product or service) that frequently inconveniences or annoys customers

When you're in an established market, you have an established customer; their needs and pain points are clearly laid out on your competitors' review sites.

—Billy Polson

Customer service, which has been a pain point of bigger banks for years, is also improving in that it's getting faster and requires little from you.

—Chris Welch

broadly : something that is a recurring source of trouble, annoyance, or distress

One generation's parenting gospel often becomes another's pain point.

—Lynda Lin Grigsby

Meanwhile, ironing is a pain point with her boyfriend because she loves the look of a crisply pressed men's shirt. "He never irons his shirts and it drives me crazy," she [Elyse Moody] says.

—Jura Konicus

Examples of pain point in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Drug pricing is another pain point for pharma companies, including Novo. —Tasmin Lockwood,elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025

This solves a common pain point many have with conventional carbon-steel pans, which are vulnerable to rust when their seasoning is underdeveloped. —Wilder Davies, Bon Appetit Magazine, 7 Nov. 2025

Sadly, the offense and special teams have been two of the biggest pain points for the team thus far. —James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025

The uncertainty for food insecure families is one of a number of pain points amping up the pressure on lawmakers to come together and reach a compromise. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1986, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pain point

• adjoint
• anoint
• appoint
• checkpoint
• conjoint
• disjoint
• endpoint
• gunpoint
• midpoint
• nonpoint
• pinpoint
• standpoint