Synonyms of painfully

painfully

adverb

as in bitterly

with feelings of bitterness or grief

painfully she recounted the difficult relationship she had with her mother

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bitterly
• sadly
• sorrowfully
• hard
• mournfully
• agonizingly
• sharply
• woefully
• harshly
• unhappily
• grievously
• regretfully
• severely
• wretchedly
• lugubriously
• ruefully
• dolorously
• resentfully
• dolefully
• sorely
• wailfully
• inconsolably
• plaintively
• hardly
• miserably
• distressingly
• abjectly
• despairingly
• dismally
• cheerlessly
• drearily
• acutely
• dispiritedly
• distressfully
• dejectedly
• darkly
• poignantly
• somberly
• joylessly
• disconsolately
• despondently
• cruelly
• forlornly
• glumly
• morosely
• sullenly
• blackly
• keenly
• pessimistically
• piercingly
• dourly
• gloomily
• mirthlessly
• hurtfully
• ill
• downheartedly
• crestfallenly
• low-spiritedly
• rancorously

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• blissfully
• happily
• joyfully
• joyously
• gladly
• cheerfully
• gleefully
• easily
• merrily
• delightedly
• cheerily
• lightly
• lightheartedly
• casually
• calmly
• gaily
• stoically
• blithely
• indifferently
• dispassionately
• nonchalantly
• unconcernedly
• impassively
• well
• sunnily
• mirthfully
• favorably
• good-naturedly
• rejoicingly
• blithesomely

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of painfully

Hathaway effortlessly carries the film’s pathos, building a home in a very human (and painfully relatable) character. — Chris Bellamy, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026

But loving Lochte and building a life with him proved, painfully, to be two different things. — Adam Carlson, PEOPLE, 12 Aug. 2026

Unfortunately, Winger committed the mortal sins of having a pretty boy lead singer and painfully cheesy videos (even by 80s standards), so most people dismissed them and Beach as cheap imitators. — Matt Reigle Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Episodes are painfully long (none are shorter than 44 minutes). — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2026

In applications like video calls, Xittel and Starlink’s round-trip signal delays became painfully obvious. — IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2026

Besides the hike in energy use and cost, being home more often has led to more people becoming painfully aware of how poorly their systems run. — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 30 July 2026

Disaster can strike in regions unaccustomed to their fury, as North Carolinians in the western end of the state painfully learned in 2024 as Hurricane Helene deluged the region. — Jamie Gold, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

At the second Petco, another cashier—this one an elderly woman with a painfully tight bun and a cat named Rebecca—tells me the same thing. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026