How to Use pained in a Sentence

pained

adjective

• He truly looked pained when he heard the news.
• She wore a pained expression on her face.
• All of these questions are asked with a pained look of concern.
  — Ray Cocks, Longreads, 29 May 2017
• This time, Mary looked famine-struck and spoke mostly in pained moans.
  — Sarah Stillman, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
• His strained, pained smile at the end of every stage set is the dead giveaway.
  — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, 7 Jan. 2019
• Matthew Stafford shrugged, grabbed the burden by its pained neck, and flung it.
  — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2022
• The outcry on social media this week has been loud and pained.
  — Chris Richards, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
• In such cases, a pained smile and a glance at your watch is sufficient.
  — Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2017
• People trade pained smiles when we get stuck with her during rush hours and closing.
  — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 27 July 2024
• The pained sounds begin again, fiercer, louder, more awful.
  — Longreads, 3 Feb. 2026
• Graden, 21, filmed as the pair walked the city, slowed by Alonzo’s pained steps.
  — Amber Ferguson, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
• When a passerby offers him cash, his face takes on a pained expression.
  — CNN, 10 May 2021
• The camera lingers for too long on his pained, Grecian-bust features.
  — Judy Berman, Time, 26 June 2025
• The pained faces of every Swedish player spoke volumes.
  — Pierre Lebrun, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
• Her face in her new kitchen, pained and distant, looking at the vacant space for a table.
  — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 23 June 2021
• Paired with the pained siren-like figure played by Ellis on synth, the effect was eerie.
  — John Defore, Billboard, 30 May 2017
• One son was so pained by sunlight that his father covered the windows in black plastic.
  — Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 17 May 2026
• Anna Sawai speaks volumes with every pained look on Mariko’s face.
  — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2024
• Carrey played Biden with wide-eyed mania, face twisted and frozen into a pained grin.
  — Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2021
• Some of those lyrics are pained love songs, but others, even Yazbek admits, are sillier.
  — David Browne, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023
• The women prayed, then waited in pained silence for twenty minutes.
  — Joshua Sharpe august 6, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2025
• Asked if that seemed like a fitting end for Angel City, Nielsen forced a pained smile.
  — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2023
• Seale compares a pained area to a river punctuated with rocks that change or block the flow of water.
  — Jamie Rosen, Robb Report, 31 July 2022
• In some places, the carcasses rot in the open and the pained cries of sick animals are resound in villages.
  — Aniruddha Ghosal, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Sep. 2022
• The account showed a young man in wire-frame glasses, with a pained expression in his profile photo.
  — Aaron A Bedoya, USA TODAY, 3 Aug. 2019
• Kraninger sat there with a pained, flustered expression for a few seconds before the audio was turned off.
  — Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox, 19 July 2018
• At this point in the story, Stoll becomes silent and his face twists into a pained expression.
  — Andy Greenberg, Wired, 18 Dec. 2019
• Simone bestows a real kindness here; all Winston can do is walk off with a pained look in his eyes.
  — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2024
• Naturally, some of the criticism was sharp and pained.
  — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 31 May 2026
• The staff member offered a pained smile in acknowledgment.
  — Rania Abouzeid, New Yorker, 21 May 2026