PAINFUL Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

painful

adjective

ˈpān-fəl

Definition of painful

as in sore

causing or feeling bodily pain a very painful toothache her broken arm was too painful for her to go on the trip

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in harsh

hard to accept or bear especially emotionally it's been very painful to accept that my father is gone forever

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of painful Your music can be melodic, painful, street and vulnerable all at once. — Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 15 Oct. 2026 Losing instate five-stars to Florida (Royal), Alabama (quarterback Elijah Haven), and Notre Dame (o-lineman Albert Simien) is painful but excusable. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026 Getting even a small tattoo can be both painful and expensive. — Avery Stone, Time, 15 Oct. 2026 This week’s upcoming Santa Ana winds will provide one of the first major tests of whether Los Angeles has applied those painful lessons. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for painful

Recent Examples of Synonyms for painful

Adjective

Harvard Health Publishing notes that sloppy technique can strain the neck and leave you stiff and sore, which happen to be some of the same symptoms people blame on tech neck.

— Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026
My arm is sore from holding my phone at arm’s length for 10 minutes during the media scrum after the show.

— Vogue, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of sore

Adjective

And now those still left in the battered city along Ukraine's southeastern front face death from hunger or disease as another harsh winter looms, with no agreement in sight for even a humanitarian evacuation.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Despite low winds and little rain, harsh surf continues to wreak havoc along Southern California's coastal communities.

— Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of harsh

Adjective

The homestretch of the drama, however, takes the story in a chilling direction, packing an aching quantity of feeling into a single glance at a security camera as someone climbs into a car and leaves the compound, never to be heard from again.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 26 May 2026
Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain (1997) Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain is an aching, tender slow burn shaped by absence.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026

Definition of aching

Adjective

In response to legislation to end the cruelty once and for all, the Daily News once again trotted out its old and tired defense of this cruel, deadly and outdated industry.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Policing cringe is the cruelest métier of the internet—the origin of harassment campaigns and platforming of contempt.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of cruel

Adjective

The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Alberto Sierra’s estranged wife and her two young daughters detailed on Friday their torturous final moments, testifying during Sierra’s death penalty trial.

— Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026
In a wartorn country where air travel is too perilous to even consider, the roads are the obvious option, but are jammed, precarious, and cursed with long, torturous border queues.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of torturous

Adjective

Cringe may be excruciating, but post-cringe would be pure horror.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Then the day came, two weeks before a drop-dead deadline on a final draft of a novel, when the pain was yelp-out-loud excruciating in any position other than lying flat on the floor, or standing.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of excruciating

Adjective

Many of those wins have been agonizing for the Bears to endure like when TCU upset a top-10 Baylor squad in 2021 or when the Horned Frogs scored a walk-off field goal the very next season in Waco to keep their undefeated season alive.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026
In her book, Dawood writes about an investigator telling her not to go down the agonizing road of hindsight.

— Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of agonizing

Adjective

In the ensuing decade, lawyers at Texas Instruments and at Fairchild fought a bitter court battle over the patent.

— Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
And as a bitter midterm campaign season enters its final weeks, Bouchon and Goldhirsh understand the stakes.

— Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of bitter

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“Painful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/painful. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of painful

adjective

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