HOW TO PRONOUNCE
painful
/ˈpeɪnfəl/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
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What does painful mean?
adjective
- Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.
- Afflicted or suffering with pain (of a body part or, formerly, of a person).
- Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious.
More meanings (2)
adjective
- (informal) Very bad, poor.
- (archaic) Painstaking; careful; industrious.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈpeɪnfəl/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
I had received many good lessons from them, and was still receiving them, and the thought of leaving them was painful indeed.
But this painful respiration hardly troubled a sort of ineffable serenity which overspread her countenance, and which transfigured her in her sleep.
More book examples (3)
What made all this the more painful was that it was so hard on the few that had really done their best.
And the painful details of his awakening to a sense of his limitations should now be spared her as far as possible.
There was this comfort for her always in Bromfield Corey, that he never was much surprised at anything, however shocking or painful.