1
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
2
as in harsh
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally
it's been very painful to accept that my father is gone forever
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of painful
Puerto Rico’s colonial status makes the situation more painful.
—
Israel Melendez Ayala, Time, 16 Sep. 2025
But for one Reddit user, a second wedding anniversary became a painful reminder of unequal effort.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The clash between Subirachs’s style and Gaudí’s was painful.
—D. T. Max, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
By Tuesday night, two full and painful days after the Ravens blew a late 15-point lead in Buffalo and just under five days before Baltimore was set to host to a division rival, Smith and the defense were finally able to move on.
—Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for painful
Israel Melendez Ayala, Time, 16 Sep. 2025
But for one Reddit user, a second wedding anniversary became a painful reminder of unequal effort.
—Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The clash between Subirachs’s style and Gaudí’s was painful.
—D. T. Max, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
By Tuesday night, two full and painful days after the Ravens blew a late 15-point lead in Buffalo and just under five days before Baltimore was set to host to a division rival, Smith and the defense were finally able to move on.
—Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for painful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for painful
Adjective
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Neil’s with the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Sixx’s with the Los Angeles Times — also have their subjects addressing the band’s split with former guitarist Mick Mars in 2022 and the sore feelings and lawsuits that have come out of that.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
14 Sep. 2025
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The Angels were also without shortstop Zach Neto because of a sore left wrist and outfielder Jo Adell because of vertigo.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Oysters inspired the researchers because of their remarkable ability to attach to rocks, bridge pilings, or even each other in the harsh underwater environment.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
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But the rules of the Long Walk are harsh and the stakes could not be higher.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In this aching, unorthodox historical drama, Davies tells the story of the pacifist poet and veteran Siegfried Sassoon, whose experiences fighting in the First World War forever transformed him.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
5 Aug. 2025
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Braxton shares an aching need to be vulnerable only to realize by album’s end that such unions can result in horrible betrayal, her words of lament surrounded by swelling, lush orchestration.—
Clarence A. Haynes
July 3,
Literary Hub,
3 July 2025
Adjective
-
The cruel irony is that the very systems designed to promote inclusion can inadvertently reinforce exclusion.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
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And of course, to serve as cruel juxtaposition, deGrom retired the Mets in order in the bottom of the inning on just six pitches.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Within the film’s compact running time, writer-director Ben Hania traces the fraught and torturous hours of January 29, 2024, when Palestine Red Crescent volunteers in the West Bank tried to calm a terrified 6-year-old girl and get an ambulance to her in Gaza.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
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From the almost humorous to the truly torturous, being plunked into unknown wilderness in total isolation—which is what happens on Alone—results in all manner of strange mental phenomenon.—
Woniya Thibeault,
Outside,
26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
But within those few episodes is a devastating story about a young boy who commits a horrendous crime that unfolds in excruciating detail, with each episode consisting of a single long shot.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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One from the spring of 1977 is excruciating in its details of my humiliation at the hands of a gallerist at what was then the most important photography gallery in New York.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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For athletes across all sports, few experiences are as agonizing as being forced to leave competition with a sudden muscle cramp.—
Michael Hales,
The Conversation,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The crux of this tale is now an agonizing decision that Joan has to make, egged on by her rather flighty coordinator Ryan (John Early), who is competing against Anna to make this all work.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Parsley is a biennial that quickly bolts and dies the second year, and since second-year parsley is bitter, it’s typically grown as an annual.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
14 Sep. 2025
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Whenever these bitter rivals have met in recent years, there has never been a shortage of offense.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Painful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/painful. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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