Synonyms for painful
ˈpeɪn fəl

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate these synonyms:

1. painful(adj)

   causing physical or psychological pain

   "worked with painful slowness"

   Synonyms:
   irritating, terrible, unspeakable, awful, afflictive, atrocious, abominable, sore, dreadful

   Antonyms:
   unpainful, good, painless, pain-free, comfortable, comfy, pleasant

2. afflictive, painful, sore(adj)

   causing misery or pain or distress

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

   Synonyms:
   mad, irritating, sensitive, huffy, raw, terrible, unspeakable, tender, awful, afflictive, atrocious, abominable, sore, dreadful

   Antonyms:
   comfortable, comfy, pleasant, good, painless, pain-free, unpainful

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"

   Synonyms:
   irritating, dreadful, indescribable, indefinable, awful, sore, odious, unnameable, execrable, horrifying, frightful, amazing, horrendous, severe, tremendous, dreaded, dire, afflictive, flagitious, grievous, monstrous, atrocious, ineffable, detestable, awing, awed, wicked, dread(a), awe-inspiring, unspeakable, horrific, nasty, terrible, horrible, abominable, frightening, unutterable, awesome, fearsome, fearful, direful, untellable, ugly

   Antonyms:
   comfortable, painless, comfy, pain-free, good, pleasant, unpainful

4. irritating, painful(adj)

   causing physical discomfort

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

   Synonyms:
   nettlesome, annoying, afflictive, teasing, plaguy, vexing, vexatious, galling, irritative, abominable, bothersome, awful, unspeakable, plaguey, atrocious, pestiferous, terrible, pesky, dreadful, pestering, sore, irritating

   Antonyms:
   pain-free, painless, comfy, unpainful, comfortable, pleasant, good

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. painful(adjective)

   Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.

   Antonyms:
   painfree, painless

2. painful(adjective)

   Synonyms:
   doleful, irksome, sorrowful, annoying

3. painful(adjective)

   Synonyms:
   laborious, exerting

English Synonyms and Antonyms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. painful

   Synonyms:
   depressing, disappointing, distressing, hateful, horrible, melancholy, miserable, mournful, saddening, woful, wretched

   Antonyms:
   acceptable, agreeable, congenial, delicious, delightful, grateful, gratifying, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, refreshing, satisfying, welcome

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. painful

   Synonyms:
   afflicting, distressful, grieving, grievous, excruciating

Dictionary of English Synonymes(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. painful(a.)

   Synonyms:
   tormenting, torturing, agonizing, racking, distressing, distressful, excruciating

2. painful(a.)

   Synonyms:
   grievous, afflicting, afflictive, disquieting, troublesome, displeasing, provoking, annoying, vexatious, unpleasant, disagreeable

3. painful(a.)

   Synonyms:
   toilsome, arduous, difficult, hard, severe

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. painful(a)

   Synonyms:
   distressing, agonizing, excruciating, dolorous, racking, toilsome, arduous, difficult

PPDB, the paraphrase database(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these paraphrases:

1. List of paraphrases for "painful":

   distressing, bitter, agonizing, sore, embarrassing, harrowing, sad, grievous, hurtful, difficult, dire, laborious, painstaking, arduous

How to pronounce painful?

How to say painful in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use painful in a sentence?

1. James Grazioplene:

   The betrayal and the abandonment, in that moment, by the highest military court in this land, I'm not sure which was worse and more painful to experience, what my father did or how I felt walking out of that conference room that day.

2. Attorney Phillip L. Jauregui:

   When these allegations came out within the last week it was incredibly, incredibly, painful for him, his wife, his mom, his daughter, his grandchildren.

3. Charlie Sheen:

   He was in a very desperate situation, and he was doing what he felt would get him out of it -- going public. And it was very painful. No less painful for him.

4. Peter Mutharika:

   It is more painful to die for peace than to die for war.

5. Hannah Gavios:

   It was pitch black and before I knew it, I was in midair falling off a cliff. I was honestly thinking I wouldn’t survive, i hit my head a few times and landed with a big bump. I was screaming in pain. It was the most painful thing ever. I felt like a total vegetable. I felt completely vulnerable. I couldn’t move anything.

Images & Illustrations of painful