The meaning of PAINFUL is feeling or giving pain. How to use painful in a sentence.

PAINFUL meaning: 1. causing emotional or physical pain: 2. If something is painful to watch or listen to, it is so…. Learn more.

Painful definition: affected with, causing, or characterized by pain.. See examples of PAINFUL used in a sentence.

Definition of painful adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Define painful. painful synonyms, painful pronunciation, painful translation, English dictionary definition of painful. adj. 1. Full of or giving pain: a painful shoulder; painful walking.

If something such as an illness, injury, or operation is painful, it causes you a lot of physical pain. ...a painful back injury. Sunburn is painful and potentially dangerous.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025 pain•ful (pān′ fəl), adj. affected with, causing, or characterized by pain: a painful wound; a painful night; a …

Anything painful hurts a lot — either physically or emotionally. Your sprained ankle may be painful, but so is your broken heart. When something is physically painful, it hurts your body in …

Find 525 different ways to say PAINFUL, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com.

Synonyms for PAINFUL: sore, aching, hurting, damaging, hurtful, injurious, swollen, nasty; Antonyms of PAINFUL: painless, helping, remedial, healing, indolent, curative, sweet, gratifying