pained

adjective \ ˈpānd \

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

The suggestion that Catholics who embrace the teachings of their church cannot honor their judicial oaths drew a pained response from the Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame.

— william a. galston, WSJ, "No Catholic Judges? Someone Tell Scalia," 19 Sep. 2017
As time passed, death gradually pushed everything else to the sidelines, everything but love, which grew more pained and brittle as the years went by.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Searching for Poet Frank Stanford," 31 Oct. 2017
Hundreds of churches and monasteries were demolished in the 1500s, and many people gruesomely killed, during England’s pained transition from Catholicism to Protestantism.

— billy perrigo, Time, "How the World Is Marking the 500th Birthday of Protestantism," 27 Oct. 2017
Tarantino’s pained and evidently soul-searching comments stand in contrast to the Sgt.

— kyle smith, National Review, "This Hollywood Scandal Is Different," 24 Oct. 2017
Cohn, who is Jewish, stood at Trump’s side, a pained expression on his face.

— william d. cohan, The Hive, "Gary Cohn Can’t Quit Trump. Literally. He’s Tried More Than Once.," 13 Oct. 2017
Anecdotally, at least, students seem more engaged in CORE courses and graduate assistants less pained by the prospect of teaching them.

— The Economist, "The teaching of economics gets an overdue overhaul," 21 Sep. 2017
Your angry, fearful, or pained baby is primed to give you lots of opportunities.

— jen gann, The Cut, "The Surprising Effects of Listening to a Baby Cry," 5 Sep. 2017
The juxtaposition of the flowers out of water and the vase, particularly in context of the insects and skulls, was intended to remind the viewer of the transient, pained beauty of life.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Reflections of an Accidental Florist," 28 Aug. 2017

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.