pained

adjective \ ˈpānd \

|Updated on: 29 Jul 2018

Examples: pained in a Sentence

Definition of pained

1 : feeling pain : hurt

2 : expressing or involving pain

a pained expression

with pained surprise

See pained defined for English-language learners

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 of pained from the Web

England has a pained relationship with big tournaments and with its national team.

— martin rogers, USA TODAY, "22 years later, the weight of the world is off England's shoulders," 3 July 2018
In the days since New Jersey got the legal go-ahead to bulk up its coffers with sports betting, the urgent job of the major sports leagues has been to simulate pained acceptance of the inevitability of gambling.

— holman jenkins, WSJ, "Gambling Is Coming, So Get Ready to Hate Sports," 18 May 2018
The arrival of a young immigrant named Inna (Rae Gray), bearing a photo of a mystery woman standing in front of the building years earlier, stirs pained memories of the daughter Renia left behind.

— james hebert, sandiegouniontribune.com, "A struggle to cling to identity is at heart of La Jolla Playhouse's quietly moving 'Queens'," 10 July 2018
As the horn sounded, Mavs guard Rolando Blackman approached Harper with a pained look on his face.

— mac engel, star-telegram, "Before J.R. Smith there was Derek Harper," 1 June 2018
James is customarily good -- and pained -- striking out on his own, and has nice chemistry with Dillahunt, a cowboy type who provides a more expressive counterweight to his clenched persona.

— brian lowry, CNN, "'Fear the Walking Dead' gets major makeover with Morgan's arrival," 13 Apr. 2018
More: Author David Sedaris has no regrets over joke about smothering Trump in his crib Inevitably, that penchant for exaggeration leads to Donald Trump, and pained reflections on the 2016 election.

— gary levin, USA TODAY, "'Calypso': David Sedaris shines in tales of family, loss and a favorite turtle," 28 May 2018
Sitting on the floor, his face seemingly pained by the weight of secrets and regrets, Nelson reveals a whole new layer to Richard — and offers what is surely some of his most affecting and sensitive acting at Everyman.

— tim smith, baltimoresun.com, "At Everyman Theatre, 'Book of Joseph' provides intriguing drama of family secrets, regrets," 18 May 2018
Plus, the pained, drawn-out history of its construction is fascinating in its own right.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "The best way to tour the Marin County Civic Center," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pained.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.