Definitions for painful
ˈpeɪn fəlpainful

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. painful(adj)

   causing physical or psychological pain

   "worked with painful slowness"

2. afflictive, painful, sore(adj)

   causing misery or pain or distress

   "it was a sore trial to him"; "the painful process of growing up"

3. atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable(adj)

   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"

4. irritating, painful(adj)

   causing physical discomfort

   "bites of black flies are more than irritating; they can be very painful"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. painful(Adjective)

   Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.

2. painful(Adjective)

   Afflicted or suffering with pain (of a body part or, formerly, of a person).

3. painful(Adjective)

   Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious.

4. painful(Adjective)

   Painstaking; careful; industrious.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Painful(adj)

   full of pain; causing uneasiness or distress, either physical or mental; afflictive; disquieting; distressing

2. Painful(adj)

   requiring labor or toil; difficult; executed with laborious effort; as a painful service; a painful march

3. Painful(adj)

   painstaking; careful; industrious

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Painful

   Painful is the sixth studio album released in 1993 by alternative rock band Yo La Tengo. The album marked a creative shift from Yo La Tengo's previous work, blending atmospheric and ambient sounds with their famous noise jams. Painful features a much more melodic-driven Yo La Tengo in its hazy, dream-like songwriting. Two versions of the track "Big Day Coming" are present on the album and display the range of musical stylings Yo La Tengo works with; the first version features a simple organ melody accompanied by a soft bass counterpoint and Kaplan's guitar feedback echoing in the background, while the second version is a much more straightforward, shoegaze style with an accompanying organ solo towards the latter part of the song.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'painful' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4692

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'painful' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4722

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'painful' in Adjectives Frequency: #623

How to pronounce painful?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say painful in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of painful in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of painful in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of painful in a Sentence

1. Northwestern University:

   The process of becoming psychologically intertwined with the partner is painful to have to undo, our study provides additional evidence that self-concept repair actually causes improvements in well-being.

2. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray:

   The conversation around policing is painful but I believe it provides us with an opportunity to learn, to change and to grow.

3. Will Ferrell:

   It was obviously great to work in a city like Rome and to be kind of back together with Ben and Owen and that sort of thing but it was a pretty tight schedule, there were a lot of days where you're running around and wearing some uncomfortable corset you can't breathe in. And I had people sticking pens in me, things like that. So it's not really a funny story but it's a painful story. But for your art you sometimes have to suffer.

4. Bernie Sanders:

   Here is somebody who put his life on the line to defend this country, a veteran, dealing with a terrible, terrible illness, and what was obviously very unsettling is when he used the word suicide, nevada Congressional was the most dramatic and painful moment of the whole town meeting.

5. Rufus Cartwright:

   Im a doctor but I was really surprised how painful this was.

Images & Illustrations of painful

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