PAINSTAKINGLY Synonyms: 66 Similar and Opposite Words

painstakingly

adverb

as in meticulously

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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 painstakingly But the flipside to that level of polymathic genius is a desire to apply it to everything, to mold it painstakingly in your own hyperspecific image. — Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026 Hamaguchi told Deadline that the team painstakingly cemented Vincent and Yuffie into irrevocable mainstays while also giving Zack (not available in my preview) an increasingly important role in the trilogy’s larger time-boggling mystery. — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026 In those days, offensive coordinators had several hundred plays painstakingly written up, page after page. — David Aldridge, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026 Martin Scorsese spends time detailing the lyrical finale of Before the Revolution, painstakingly describing its remarkable progression of shots, cuts, and sounds. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026 The three scoured data collected by the Chandra space telescope between 1999 and 2017 and painstakingly filtered out any random artifacts and other junk. — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2026 Until now researchers had to run such a model one variant at a time or had to test variants in the laboratory, a process that was painstakingly slow. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026 Like the Standish, the building, a redbrick former bookbinding factory that takes up an entire block, was painstakingly restored in 2014 to keep its 1885 historic facade. — Bridget Read, Curbed, 1 Sep. 2026 Patricia Simner, who directs the clinical-microbiology molecular laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, told me that some genetic libraries of pathogens are painstakingly curated for accuracy, but others are peppered with inaccuracies. — Jason Liebowitz, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for painstakingly

Adverb

Riding United is all about being open-minded, according to Vogel, who studies each course meticulously on foot to work out how many strides the pair should take between jumps.

— Danielle Rossingh, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Spearheaded by the family’s patriarch, a civil engineer who spent five years meticulously guiding its development, it was envisioned as a place with soul, which is inspired by the family’s summers growing up on the island.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of meticulously

Adverb

Preservation Connecticut’s searchable surveys, built in collaboration with the State Historic Preservation Office, exhaustively document historic barns, mills, artistic places, and town greens in every part of the state.

— Jane Montanaro, Hartford Courant, 20 Aug. 2026
The events surrounding that night have been exhaustively investigated and recounted in numerous stories, documentaries and police investigations.

— Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of exhaustively

Adverb

One way in which Wounaan do so is conscientiously sharing and redistributing food, money, wisdom and the like to foster equity.

— Chenier Carpio Opua, The Conversation, 5 Aug. 2026
By thinking locally, building conscientiously, and operationalizing sustainability in our deployment choices, AI users, companies, and developers can also help ensure that the infrastructure powering our future doesn’t cost us the earth.

— Sasha Luccioni, Time, 3 July 2026

Definition of conscientiously

Adverb

Milk residue left inside narrow channels and curved surfaces can create conditions where bacteria may grow if the parts are not cleaned thoroughly.

— Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
The coaching staffs and veteran players all know each other thoroughly after a decade of competition between Shanahan and McVay, who are both constantly looking for an edge.

— ABC News, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of thoroughly

Adverb

Some of the recipes are drawn from her Jewish heritage too, like the Curried Sweet Potato Latkes with seriously crispy and lacy edges and plenty of apple butter served alongside.

— Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2026
There’s no spark between Gleeson and Frei, and the biggest impediments to the characters’ relationsip are self-imposed (Ned takes himself too seriously).

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of seriously

Adverb

And there is a shocking dearth of evidence to the contrary, given how ardently Peters and her supporters have clung to this narrative for the past six years.

— The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 7 July 2026
Kevan Harris, an associate professor of sociology at UCLA who has studied the Iranian diaspora, said some of the ardently monarchist Iranians became disillusioned and demobilized when the war’s initial objective of regime change failed.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2026

Definition of ardently

Adverb

Roberts came away from the conversation excited by how earnestly Heyward embraced that message.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
On day two, one of the servers tells me earnestly that a bowl of vegetable soup, consumed properly, should take about half an hour to finish.

— Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of earnestly

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“Painstakingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/painstakingly. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of painstakingly

adverb

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