painful

pain·ful  (pnfl)

adj.

1. Causing pain.

2. Full of pain.

3. Requiring care and labor; irksome: a painful task.

4. Archaic Diligent; careful.

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painful·ly adv.

painful·ness n.

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painful [ˈpeɪnfʊl]

adj

1. causing pain; distressing a painful duty

2. affected with pain a painful leg

3. tedious or difficult

4. Informal extremely bad a painful performance

painfully  adv

painfulness  n

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	painful - causing physical or psychological pain; "worked with painful slowness" harmful - causing or capable of causing harm; "too much sun is harmful to the skin"; "harmful effects of smoking" inhumane - lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion; "humans are innately inhumane; this explains much of the misery and suffering in the world"; "biological weapons are considered too inhumane to be used" painless - not causing physical or psychological pain; "painless dentistry"
	2.	painful - causing misery or pain or distress; "it was a sore trial to him"; "the painful process of growing up" afflictive, sore unpleasant - disagreeable to the senses, to the mind, or feelings ; "an unpleasant personality"; "unpleasant repercussions"; "unpleasant odors"
	3.	painful - exceptionally bad or displeasing; "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room" awful, dreadful, terrible, unspeakable, abominable, atrocious bad - having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice"
	4.	painful - causing physical discomfort; "bites of black flies are more than irritating; they can be very painful" irritating uncomfortable - providing or experiencing physical discomfort; "an uncomfortable chair"; "an uncomfortable day in the hot sun"

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painful

adjective

1. sore, hurting, smarting, aching, raw, tender, throbbing, inflamed, excruciating Her glands were swollen and painful.
sore comforting, relieving, soothing, painless

2. distressing, unpleasant, harrowing, saddening, grievous, distasteful, agonizing, disagreeable, afflictive His remark brought back painful memories.
distressing satisfying, pleasant, enjoyable, agreeable

3. difficult, arduous, trying, hard, severe, troublesome, laborious, vexatious the long and painful process of getting divorced
difficult easy, simple, straightforward, effortless, undemanding

4. (Informal) terrible, awful, dreadful, dire, excruciating, abysmal, gut-wrenching, godawful, extremely bad The interview was painful to watch.

Translations

painful [ˈpeɪnfʊl] ADJ

1. (physically) [injury, swelling] → doloroso
a slow and painful death → una muerte lenta y dolorosa
my ankle is still painful → todavía me duele el tobillo
her wrist was painful to the touch → la muñeca le dolía al tocarla
was it very painful? → ¿te dolió mucho?
he received a painful blow on the back → recibió un golpe en la espalda que le causó un intenso dolor

2. (mentally) [memory, reminder, experience] → doloroso; [task, decision] → penoso
it will be a long and painful process → será un proceso largo y doloroso or penoso
his embarrassment was painful to witness → daba pena ver lo abochornado que estaba
it is my painful duty to tell you that → es mi penoso deber comunicarle que ..., tengo el desagradable deber de comunicarle que ...

3. (= embarrassingly bad) → fatal, de pena
her acting was so bad it was painful to watch → su actuación era tan mala que daba vergüenza ajena presenciarla, su actuación era de pena

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painful [ˈpeɪnf^əl] adj

[joint, gland, back, leg, ankle] → douloureux/euse
a painful joint → une articulation douloureuse
is it painful? → c'est douloureux?

[illness, injury, operation] → douloureux/euse
to suffer from painful periods → souffrir de règles douloureuses

[memories, experience, process] → douloureux/euse; [reminder] → douloureux/euse
Remarks like that brought back painful memories → Des remarques comme ça rappelaient des souvenirs douloureux.
She finds it too painful to return there without him → Elle trouve ça trop douloureux de revenir là-bas sans lui.

(= embarrassingly bad) to be painful to watch [performance, interview] → faire peine à voir
The interview was painful to watch → L'interview faisait peine à voir.

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painful

adj

(physically) injury → schmerzhaft; is it painful? → tut es weh?; it’s painful to the touch → es tut weh, wenn man es berührt; my arm was becoming painful → mein Arm fing an zu schmerzen; my boots are still painful → meine Stiefel drücken immer noch

(= unpleasant, distressing) task, decision, feeling, subject, fact → schmerzlich; process, reminder, memory, experience → schmerzlich, schmerzhaft; lesson → schmerzhaft; it was painful to admit that … → es war schmerzlich zuzugeben, dass…; it is my painful duty to tell you that … → ich habe die traurige Pflicht, Ihnen mitteilen zu müssen, dass …; painful to behold → ein qualvoller Anblick

(inf: = terrible) → peinlich; painful, isn’t it? → das tut weh, was?; I went to the party but it was really painful (= boring) → ich war auf der Party, aber es war zum Sterben langweilig; (= embarrassing) → ich war auf der Party, eine äußerst peinliche Angelegenheit; she gave a painful performance → ihre Vorführung war mehr als peinlich

(= laborious) → schmerzlich; it was a long and painful process → es war ein langer und schmerzlicher Prozess

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painful [ˈpeɪnfʊl] adj (wound) → doloroso/a; (leg) → che fa male; (task, sight, also) (fam) → penoso/a; (difficult) → difficile
it is my painful duty to tell you that ... → purtroppo ho il dovere di informarla che...
it was painful to watch (fam) → era penoso (a vedersi)

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painful [ˈpeɪnfʊl] adj (wound) → doloroso/a; (leg) → che fa male; (task, sight, also) (fam) → penoso/a; (difficult) → difficile
it is my painful duty to tell you that ... → purtroppo ho il dovere di informarla che...
it was painful to watch (fam) → era penoso (a vedersi)

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painful → مؤلم bolestivý smertefuld schmerzhaft οδυνηρός doloroso kivulias douloureux bolan doloroso 痛い 아픈 pijnlijk smertefull bolesny dolorido, doloroso болезненный smärtsam เจ็บปวด ağrılı đau đớn 疼痛的