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

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

Securing And Optimizing Workforce And Talent Finding and retaining skilled employees remains a significant pain point for many small businesses, which are often constrained by limited recruitment resources and competitive salaries. —Ibrahim Jackson, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025

Our consumers love that there’s a company of good old Midwest folks — not an elitist tech company, or anything like that — who are trying to save me a little bit [of money] on something that’s a pain point already. —Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 3 July 2025

The Federal Reserve’s decision not to cut interest rates yet this year due to market uncertainty and stronger-than-expected labor data has been a pain point for President Donald Trump. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 2 July 2025

The issue became an unexpected pain point in Skydance’s pursuit of FCC approval to take over the CBS licenses. —Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 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