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

And as with the general population, health care, gas and grocery costs are top pain points. — Ali Swenson, STAT, 30 Sep. 2026

And as with the general population, healthcare, gas and grocery costs are top pain points. — Ali Swenson, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

Our one pain point is the skimpy 128GB of system storage, but this bundles a 500GB removable drive along with it. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026

The discrepancy in air time is a pain point West Coast viewers who are easily spoiled on social media about how couples fared. — Mckinley Franklin, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 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