painful

The word “painful” has 2 syllables: pain-ful

It's pronounced as /ˈpeɪnfʊl/


What is synonym and antonym for painful?

In the thesaurus, “painful” has 91 synonyms and 35 antonyms.

Here are synonyms and antonyms for painful along with examples of usage in sentences.


Synonyms for painful

  • aching
  • achy
  • acute
  • afflicting
  • afflictive
  • agonizing
  • appalling
  • arduous
  • awful
  • bad
  • biting
  • bitter
  • bleeding
  • burning
  • caustic
  • chafing
  • cramping
  • cruel
  • damaging
  • deleterious
  • detrimental
  • difficult
  • dire
  • disagreeable
  • distasteful
  • distressing
  • dreadful
  • enflamed
  • excruciating
  • extreme
  • extremely bad
  • festering
  • galling
  • ghastly
  • grievous
  • hard
  • harmful
  • harrowing
  • harsh
  • heart-wrenching
  • heartrending
  • horrible
  • hurtful
  • hurting
  • inflamed
  • injurious
  • insufferable
  • insupportable
  • intense
  • intolerable
  • irritated
  • itching
  • laborious
  • miserable
  • nagging
  • nasty
  • noxious
  • pernicious
  • piercing
  • pinching
  • pricking
  • prickling
  • raw
  • rotten
  • saddening
  • sensitive
  • severe
  • sharp
  • smarting
  • sore
  • stinging
  • swollen
  • tedious
  • tender
  • terrible
  • threatening
  • throbbing
  • tormenting
  • torturous
  • troublesome
  • trying
  • unacceptable
  • unbearable
  • uncomfortable
  • unendurable
  • unpleasant
  • unsupportable
  • vexatious
  • vile
  • wounding
  • wretched

Antonyms for painful

Meanings of painful

  • adjective
    1. Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.
    2. Afflicted or suffering with pain (of a body part or, formerly, of a person).
    3. Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious.
    4. Painstaking; careful; industrious.
    5. Very bad, poor.

Example Sentences

  • The athlete experienced a painful injury during the match, requiring medical attention.
  • Watching her struggle with the loss of her pet was a painful experience for everyone.
  • The memories of the accident were still fresh and painful in her mind.
  • The breakup was painful, but it ultimately led to personal growth and self-discovery.
  • The chemotherapy treatment was painful, but necessary to combat the cancer.

On this page you'll find 126 synonyms, antonyms, or another words to painful, such as: acceptable, aching, achy, acute, afflicting, afflictive, agonizing.

Make sure to choose synonyms and antonyms that are appropriate for the context of the sentence.

Related Words

backbreaking

  • Augean
  • abstract
  • abstruse
  • annoying
  • arduous
  • bothersome
  • bruising
  • brutal
  • burdensome
  • challenging
  • complex
  • complicated
  • cruel
  • demanding
  • difficult
  • distressing
  • effortful
  • elusive
  • exacting
  • exhausting
  • formidable
  • grievous
  • grim
  • grueling
  • gruelling
  • hairy
  • hard
  • heavy
  • hellacious
  • herculean
  • inhuman
  • insoluble
  • intricate
  • involved
  • irksome
  • killer
  • knotty
  • labored
  • laborious
  • moiling
  • murderous
  • onerous
  • opaque
  • oppressive
  • painful
  • pick-and-shovel
  • problematic
  • problematical
  • punishing
  • recondite
  • rigorous
  • rough
  • rugged
  • serious
  • severe
  • spiny
  • stiff
  • strenuous
  • stressful
  • strict
  • stringent
  • stubborn
  • sweaty
  • tall
  • taxing
  • testing
  • thorny
  • ticklish
  • tight
  • toilsome
  • tough
  • tricky
  • troublesome
  • trying
  • uphill
  • vexatious
  • wearisome

laborious

  • Augean
  • absorbed
  • abstract
  • abstruse
  • active
  • alive
  • animated
  • annoying
  • arduous
  • assiduous
  • astir
  • backbreaking
  • bothersome
  • bruising
  • brutal
  • burdensome
  • bustling
  • busy
  • buzzing
  • challenging
  • complex
  • complicated
  • concentrating
  • cruel
  • demanding
  • difficult
  • diligent
  • distressing
  • effortful
  • elusive
  • employed
  • energetic
  • engaged
  • engrossed
  • exacting
  • exhausting
  • fatiguing
  • flourishing
  • focused
  • focussed
  • forced
  • formidable
  • functional
  • functioning
  • going
  • grievous
  • grim
  • grueling
  • gruelling
  • hairy
  • happening
  • hard
  • hardworking
  • heavy
  • hellacious
  • herculean
  • hopping
  • humming
  • immersed
  • indefatigable
  • industrious
  • inhuman
  • insoluble
  • intent
  • intricate
  • involved
  • irksome
  • killer
  • killing
  • knee-deep
  • knotty
  • labored
  • lively
  • living
  • moiling
  • murderous
  • occupied
  • onerous
  • opaque
  • operating
  • operational
  • operative
  • operose
  • oppressive
  • painful
  • painstaking
  • persevering
  • persnickety
  • pick-and-shovel
  • ponderous
  • preoccupied
  • problematic
  • problematical
  • recondite
  • rigid
  • rigorous
  • rough
  • rough go
  • rugged
  • running
  • sedulous
  • serious
  • severe
  • spiny
  • stern
  • stiff
  • strained
  • strenuous
  • stressful
  • strict
  • stringent
  • stubborn
  • swamped
  • sweaty
  • tall
  • taxing
  • testing
  • thorny
  • thriving
  • ticklish
  • tied-up
  • tight
  • tireless
  • tiresome
  • toilsome
  • tough
  • tough job
  • tricky
  • troublesome
  • trying
  • unflagging
  • untiring
  • uphill
  • vexatious
  • vibrant
  • vigorous
  • wearing
  • wearisome
  • wicked
  • working

maddening

  • abrasive
  • affronting
  • aggravating
  • agitating
  • angering
  • annoying
  • antagonizing
  • biting
  • bothering
  • bothersome
  • brattish
  • bratty
  • burdensome
  • carking
  • chafing
  • confusing
  • cracking
  • crazing
  • crossing
  • deranging
  • discomforting
  • discomposing
  • displeasing
  • disquieting
  • distracting
  • distractive
  • distressing
  • disturbing
  • embittering
  • enflaming
  • enraging
  • envenoming
  • exasperating
  • frenzying
  • frustrating
  • galling
  • getting
  • grating
  • huffing
  • importunate
  • importune
  • incensing
  • inconveniencing
  • inflaming
  • infuriating
  • iring
  • irksome
  • irritating
  • jangling
  • jarring
  • locoing
  • madding
  • miffing
  • mischievous
  • nettlesome
  • nettling
  • offending
  • offensive
  • outraging
  • painful
  • peeving
  • perturbing
  • pesky
  • pestiferous
  • pestilent
  • pestilential
  • pesty
  • piquing
  • plaguey
  • plaguy
  • provoking
  • putting out
  • rankling
  • rebarbative
  • riling
  • roiling
  • rubbing the wrong way
  • ruffling
  • spiny
  • steaming up
  • stressful
  • thorny
  • ticking off
  • tiresome
  • troublesome
  • troubling
  • trying
  • unbalancing
  • unhinging
  • unsettling
  • unstringing
  • upsetting
  • vexatious
  • vexing
  • worrisome

racking

  • acute
  • afflicting
  • aggravating
  • agitating
  • agonizing
  • alarming
  • anguishing
  • annoying
  • arctic
  • arduous
  • assailing
  • attacking
  • backbreaking
  • badgering
  • battering
  • bedeviling
  • besetting
  • besieging
  • biting
  • bitter
  • blaring
  • bothering
  • bruising
  • brutal
  • bugging
  • burning
  • chafing
  • chastening
  • chilling
  • cold
  • consuming
  • crippling
  • crushing
  • cursing
  • cutting
  • damaging
  • deafening
  • demanding
  • discomforting
  • discomposing
  • disquieting
  • distressing
  • disturbing
  • dogging
  • earsplitting
  • exasperating
  • excruciating
  • exhausting
  • exquisite
  • extreme
  • fatiguing
  • fierce
  • flustering
  • fraying
  • freezing
  • frosty
  • galling
  • getting
  • grating
  • grieving
  • grinding
  • griping
  • grueling
  • hagriding
  • hairy
  • harassing
  • hard
  • harming
  • harrowing
  • harrying
  • harsh
  • heart-rending
  • heart-wrenching
  • heartbreaking
  • heavy
  • high
  • high-pitched
  • hounding
  • hurting
  • impairing
  • insufferable
  • intense
  • irking
  • irritating
  • keen
  • knifelike
  • laborious
  • laming
  • loud
  • mangling
  • martyring
  • molesting
  • mutilating
  • nerve-racking
  • nettling
  • numbing
  • oppressing
  • overpowering
  • overwhelming
  • painful
  • paining
  • panging
  • peeving
  • penetrating
  • persecuting
  • perturbing
  • pestering
  • piercing
  • piquing
  • plaguing
  • poignant
  • powerful
  • pricking
  • pulling
  • punishing
  • pursuing
  • putting out
  • raging
  • rasping
  • raw
  • rending
  • riding
  • riling
  • roaring
  • searing
  • severe
  • sharp
  • shattering
  • shooting
  • shrill
  • smarting
  • smiting
  • soaring
  • stabbing
  • stentorian
  • stentorious
  • stiff
  • stinging
  • straining
  • strenuous
  • stressing
  • stretching
  • striking
  • struggling
  • sudden
  • suffering
  • taxing
  • tearing
  • terrifying
  • thin
  • tingling
  • tiring
  • tormenting
  • tortuous
  • torturesome
  • torturing
  • torturous
  • traumatic
  • treble
  • troubling
  • trying
  • tyrannizing
  • unbearable
  • unendurable
  • upsetting
  • vehement
  • vexing
  • victimizing
  • violent
  • weakening
  • wintry
  • worrying
  • wounding
  • wrenching
  • wringing

a bit much

  • annoying
  • arduous
  • baroque
  • boresome
  • boring
  • boundless
  • burdensome
  • demanding
  • devilish
  • difficult
  • drag
  • dragging
  • drudging
  • dull
  • endless
  • enervative
  • enough
  • enough already
  • exacting
  • excessive
  • excruciating
  • exhausting
  • exorbitant
  • extravagant
  • extreme
  • fancy
  • fatiguing
  • flat
  • hard
  • heavy
  • heavy-handed
  • hefty
  • ho-hum
  • humdrum
  • immeasurable
  • immoderate
  • impossible
  • improper
  • inadmissible
  • inappropriate
  • infinite
  • inordinate
  • insane
  • insufferable
  • insupportable
  • intolerable
  • irksome
  • jading
  • laborious
  • last straw
  • lavish
  • limitless
  • monotonous
  • nowhere
  • offensive
  • onerous
  • oppressive
  • over-the-top
  • overdue
  • overextravagant
  • overmuch
  • overweening
  • painful
  • plethoric
  • steep
  • stiff
  • strenuous
  • tedious
  • thick
  • tired
  • tiring
  • too much
  • tough
  • towering
  • trying
  • unacceptable
  • unbearable
  • unconscionable
  • uncool
  • undesirable
  • undue
  • unendurable
  • uninteresting
  • unjustifiable
  • unmerciful
  • unrelieved
  • unrestrained
  • unseemly
  • unsufferable
  • unsupportable
  • unsurpassable
  • unwarranted
  • vexatious
  • wearing
  • wearisome
  • wearying
  • yawn

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