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

The issue is one of the unresolved pain points between the two neighbors divided by sea, whose long history of colonization and conflict has doomed previous attempts at bilateral talks. —Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025

While the Dodgers offense has struggled across the board, the players before and after Shohei Ohtani have been major pain points for LA. —Noah Camras, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025

That's why lawmakers have proposed more standalone bills that, while not capable of fully reopening the government, would address the crisis' biggest pain points – from an impending gap in funding for food stamps to widespread concern over military pay. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025

What does that conversation illuminate for him, despite the whole pain point with her and Mia trying to negotiate her deal? —Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 29 Oct. 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