pained

adjective

ˈpānd 

1

: feeling pain : hurt

2

: expressing or involving pain

a pained expression

with pained surprise

Examples of pained in a Sentence

She wore a pained expression on her face.

He truly looked pained when he heard the news.

Recent Examples on the Web

Some of those lyrics are pained love songs, but others, even Yazbek admits, are sillier. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023

As Malcolm’s mother, Louise, and later as his wife, Betty, the soprano Leah Hawkins persuasively traced within brief, contained appearances the pained arcs of women who come to terms with the doomed lives of their partners. —Joshua Barone, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2023

The outcry on social media this week has been loud and pained. —Chris Richards, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023

There are occasions that remind you of Grammer’s genius, like a silently pained Frasier struggling to choose between being loyal to Alan or getting admitted to an elite Boston club. —Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2023

Illustration: Sienna O’rourke The Morrissey had the right melodrama in his limbs, and his voice was strong and pained. —WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023

All of it—the triumphant moment, the stadium chants, Cramer’s pained expression (especially Cramer’s pained expression)—was trumpeted across conservative media as an encapsulation of what the moment represented. —Kathryn Joyce, The New Republic, 12 Sep. 2023

Fukada passes no judgment on how his characters choose to process grief, even relishing the occasional absurdity about it between the pained silences. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2023

The victim’s pained moans can be heard in the background as the dispatcher instructs the caller to cover the wound with a clean cloth or T-shirt. —Jeremy Childs, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1