How to Use painful in a Sentence

painful

adjective
Definition of painfulnext
Synonyms for painfulnext
  • It was painful to watch.
  • I got a painful sunburn.
  • His questions brought up a lot of painful memories.
  • We can't ignore our country's painful history of slavery.
  • The most painful part, many said, was being in the dark about their fate.
    — Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024
  • Back home, the gloom of a painful work stoppage seemed far away.
    — Todd Robinson, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Aug. 2023
  • No one gets over that kind of trauma and the most painful scars are the ones people don’t see.
    — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 10 July 2023
  • Well, there were some moments with the Dragos that were [painful to cut].
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 June 2023
  • In a painful stroke of irony, the United States would respond in part with a spell of infamy of its own.
    — Cynthia Teniente-Matson, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2024
  • Bowman said even twisting the wrong way can be painful.
    — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 28 May 2023
  • In the Woman in Me, Spears opens up about the painful experience.
    — Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 19 Oct. 2023
  • The girl’s call for help lasted for more than 21 minutes and is painful to listen to.
    — Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, 9 Sep. 2023
  • This has been the most painful and difficult challenge of my life.
    — Annie Lane, Anchorage Daily News, 11 July 2023
  • The sight of it was so painful for her parents that Sisco could barely walk in.
    — Julia Prodis Sulek, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2024
  • Some even say that tweezing and waxing are more painful.
    — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 13 Nov. 2023
  • But that often painful process taught me that failure is okay.
    — Max Gellert, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
  • All the while, the clusters got more raw, irritated, and painful.
    — Maressa Brown, SELF, 26 Mar. 2024
  • Cheeks said that having to go back on his promise to buy a house for his aunt, who has since died, was painful.
    — Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024
  • On its own, the death of any child is a painful and agonizing time for a parent.
    — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2024
  • So far, the job market has been cooling in the least painful way possible -- with few job cuts.
    — Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 2 Sep. 2023
  • The most painful aspect of the economy is the jobs situation.
    — Alex Travelli, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
  • Megan Rapinoe’s soccer career has come to a painful end.
    — Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Survivors of painful family loss or the loss of people close to them share the need to give meaning to that survival.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Most people would say that waxing and tweezing are more painful.
    — Delaney Nothaft, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Headaches, painful sore throats, and hoarseness are also more common with colds, adds Dr. Jain.
    — Nicole Harris, Parents, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Other doctors did not want to discuss such painful trade-offs.
    — Adam Rasgon, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2023
  • But renting or borrowing fins can be a painful process.
    — Chantae Reden, Popular Mechanics, 15 June 2023
  • One day, while filling the lawnmower, I got sprayed in the face with gasoline, which is both painful and blinding.
    — Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 12 July 2023
  • But skipping a session ends up being even more painful.
    — Tara Bannow, STAT, 11 Jan. 2024
  • That’s left a painful dent in the portfolios of investors exposed to low-carbon stocks, such as Impax.
    — Natasha White, Fortune, 14 Jan. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'painful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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