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

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 leaders and business development professionals get ahead of themselves, trying to show benefits without fully understanding the pain points and issues affecting their teams, leads and customers. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025

Groceries, housing, and taxes are the pain points. —Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025

Although auto loan rates are fixed for the life of the loan, ballooning payments have become another pain point for consumers. —Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2025

Based on its initial research on nurses’ daily routines and pain points — such as walking long distances across the ward to deliver samples — Foxconn added features, like a space to safely store bottles and vials. —Rebecca Cairns, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 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