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

Adjective

1. causing pain or distress: painful inflammation of the joints, he began the painful task of making funeral arrangements

2. affected with pain: the symptoms include fever and painful joints

3. tedious or difficult: the hours passed with painful slowness

4. Informal extremely bad: a painful so-called comedy

painfully adv

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 << OPPOSITE painless

adjective 2. distressing, unpleasant, harrowing, saddening, grievous, distasteful, agonizing, disagreeable, afflictive << OPPOSITE pleasant

adjective 3. difficult, arduous, trying, hard, severe, troublesome, laborious, vexatious << OPPOSITE easy

adjective 4. (Informal) terrible, awful, dreadful, dire, excruciating, abysmal, gut-wrenching, godawful, extremely bad

Translations

painful [ˈpeɪnful] adj → doloroso (= difficult); penoso (= disagreeable); desagradable

painful [ˈpeɪnful] pain adj → douloureux/euse (= difficult); difficile, pénible

painful [ˈpeɪnful] pain adj [back, injury etc] → schmerzhaft; [sight, decision etc] → schmerzlich (= laborious); mühsam (= embarrassing); peinlich

painful [ˈpeɪnful] adj → doloroso/a, che fa male (= difficult); difficile, penoso/a