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

That's a common pain point when transmission lines go up, according to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission – that people living along them bear the burden for energy to flow to others. —Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 12 Dec. 2025

The key pain point was a dip in membership renewal rates, signaling a slight slowdown. —Paulina Likos, CNBC, 12 Dec. 2025

The modern woman faces countless pain points. —Footwear News, 10 Dec. 2025

The administration frames the payment as bridge money until the president's trade deals pay off, which acknowledges economic pain points. —Brittney Melton, NPR, 9 Dec. 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