painful

Definition

  • adjective: causing pain to your body
  • adjective: feeling or giving pain
  • synonyms: toilsome, distressing, disquieting

Examples

  • They made it 'painfully' obvious/clear that we were not welcome. [=they made it very clear in a way that was rude or upsetting that we were not welcome]

  • His ankle is swollen and 'painful to the touch'. [=his ankle hurts if he touches it]

  • After the injury she was 'painfully' aware that her career in tennis would be over.

Movie quotes

  • (..) boyfriends, one of whom hit me. Uh, and every time l get my heart broken, the newspapers splash it about as though it's entertainment. And... it's taken two rather painful, um, operations... to get me looking like this. - Really ? - Really. And one day not long from now, (..)
    1999 Notting Hill