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

Casinos design an entire ecosystem around funneling people toward these machines and keeping them on these machines past their pain points. —Annie Nova, CNBC, 6 Dec. 2025

These two areas have been particular pain points for Europe, which has lost its edge in rocket technology to SpaceX's Falcon 9 and has a long way to go to catch up with the company's Starlink internet-beaming mega-constellation. —Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 2 Dec. 2025

The Cowboys' defense has been a pain point in 2025, but the team showcased some huge grit in their win against the Las Vegas Raiders. —James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025

DwarfLab's book-sized smart telescopes have removed many pain points over the years, but the company has gone lightweight as well as compact and portable for its latest design. —New Atlas, 21 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