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

Some investors pointed to Nvidia's stalling $100 billion deal deal with OpenAI as a pain point for the stock. —Yun Li, CNBC, 4 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

Literal and figurative pain points included ensuring each piece properly conducting electricity, rigging every square with mechanical keyboard switches to facilitate the connections, and countless unintentional jolts. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 26 Feb. 2026

Our blueprint became to identify urgent pain points, practically apply AI, measure impact, and build from there. —Danny Werfel, Fortune, 22 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