Definition of painful Painful

/pejˈnfʌl/ - [peynful] - pain•ful

We found 12 definitions of painful from 5 different sources.

What does painful mean?

WordNet

Adjective painful, painfuller, painfullest
painful - causing physical or psychological pain; "worked with painful slowness"
		painless requiring little hard work or exertion; "a painless solution to the problem"
		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"
		aching, achy causing a dull and steady pain; "my aching head"; "her old achy joints"
		agonised, agonized expressing pain or agony; "agonized screams"
		agonising, agonizing, excruciating, harrowing, torturesome, torturing, torturous extremely painful
		biting, bitter causing a sharply painful or stinging sensation; used especially of cold; "bitter cold"; "a biting wind"
		chafed, galled painful from having the skin abraded
		poignant keenly distressing to the mind or feelings; "poignant anxiety"
		itchy causing an irritating cutaneous sensation; being affect with an itch; "he had an itchy toe from the mosquito bite"
		racking, wrenching causing great physical or mental suffering; "a wrenching pain"
		saddle-sore (of a rider) sore after riding a horse
		sore, sensitive, tender, raw of or pertaining to classified information or matters affecting national security
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"
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"
		atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, terrible, unspeakable
		bad feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"
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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Wiktionary

painful (Adjective)
Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.
painful (Adjective)
Afflicted or suffering with pain of a body part or, formerly, of a person.
painful (Adjective)
Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

painful (a.)
Full of pain; causing uneasiness or distress, either physical or mental; afflictive; disquieting; distressing.
painful (a.)
Requiring labor or toil; difficult; executed with laborious effort; as a painful service; a painful march.
painful (a.)
Painstaking; careful; industrious.