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

As gaming speed is the only factor some PC builders care about when choosing parts, this has been a big pain point for Intel and has pushed many people to opt for AMD processors instead, leaving Arrow Lake chips sitting on the shelf. —Michael Justin Allen Sexton, PC Magazine, 11 Mar. 2026

Dietsch says this is a common pain point for people, especially newlyweds. —Ashley Chalmers, The Spruce, 10 Mar. 2026

The stock has become a pain point for investors since the fall, Cramer noted. —Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 6 Mar. 2026

As well as showcasing Mexican culture, the brand has set out to target pain points for its community, including producing shade matches. —Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 27 Feb. 2026

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