painful

English

Alternative forms

painfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English paynful, peinful, peynful, paynefull, peynefull, equivalent to pain +‎ -ful. Compare Danish pinefuld (“painful”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪn.fəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪnfəl

Adjective

painful (comparative painfuller or more painful, superlative painfullest or most painful)

Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental. [from 14th c.]
Afflicted or suffering with pain (of a body part or, formerly, of a person). [from 15th c.]
Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious. [from 15th c.]
(now rare) Painstaking; careful; industrious. [from 16th c.]
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 142:
  The men bestow their times in fishing, hunting, warres, and such manlike exercises, scorning to be seene in any woman-like exercise, which is the cause that the women be very painefull, and the men often idle.
- 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, chapter 2, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, OCLC 191225086, book II (The Ancient Monk):
  For twenty generations, here was the earthly arena where painful living men worked out their life-wrestle
(informal) Very bad, poor.
His violin playing is painful.

Synonyms

(full of pain): doleful, sorrowful, smartful, irksome, annoying
(requiring labor or toil): laborious, exerting

Antonyms

(causing pain): painless, painfree

Derived terms

painfully
painfulness

Translations

causing pain

Arabic: أَلِيم‎ (ʾalīm), مُؤْلِم‎ (muʾlim), مُوجِع‎ (mūjiʿ)
Belarusian: балю́чы (baljúčy)
Bikol Central: makulog (bcl)
Bulgarian: боле́знен (bg) (boléznen), мъчи́телен (bg) (mǎčítelen) (causing grief, pain or sorrow), бо́лен (bg) (bólen) (sore)
Catalan: dolorós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 痛苦的 (tòngkǔ de), 疼痛的 (téngtòng de)
Czech: bolestivý (cs), bolavý, bolestný (cs) (of experience)
Danish: smertefuld (da), smertelig
Esperanto: dolora (eo)
French: douloureux (fr)
Finnish: kivulias (fi), tuskallinen (fi)
French: douloureux (fr)
Georgian: მტკივნეული (mṭḳivneuli)
German: schmerzhaft (de)
Greek: επώδυνος (el) (epódynos), οδυνηρός (el) (odynirós)
Ancient: ὀδυνηρός (odunērós), λυπηρός (lupērós)
Hawaiian: ʻeha
Hungarian: fájdalmas (hu)
Irish: pianmhar (ga), pianúil, pianach, piantach, piantúil
Italian: doloroso (it)
Japanese: 痛い (ja) (いたい, itai), 痛みの伴う (いたみのともなう, itami no tomonau)
Korean: 아프다 (ko) (apeuda)
Macedonian: болен (bolen)
Maori: tārū, tārūrū, hīrawerawe, pāwera, pāwerawera
Mbyá Guaraní: axy
Norwegian:
Bokmål: smertefull
Nynorsk: smertefull
Occitan: dolorós (oc)
Polish: bolesny (pl)
Portuguese: doloroso (pt), dolorido (pt), doído (pt)
Romanian: dureros (ro)
Russian: боле́зненный (ru) (boléznennyj), мучи́тельный (ru) (mučítelʹnyj) (causing grief, pain or sorrow), больно́й (ru) (bolʹnój) (sore)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бо̑лан
Roman: bȏlan (sh)
Sanskrit: दुःख (sa) (duḥkha)
Slovak: bolestivý, boľavý
Slovene: boleč (sl)
Spanish: doloroso (es)
Swedish: smärtsam (sv)
Tagalog: masakit
Tausug: masakit
Tocharian B: laklese
Ukrainian: болю́чий (uk) (boljúčyj), бо́лісний (uk) (bólisnyj)
Waray-Waray: maul-ul, masu-ol

suffering with pain

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Bikol Central: makulog (bcl)
Bulgarian: бо́лен (bg) (bólen)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 痛苦的 (tòngkǔ de), 疼痛的 (téngtòng de)
Czech: (of body part) bolestivý (cs); (of experience) bolestný (cs)
Esperanto: dolora (eo)
Finnish: kipeä (fi), kivulias (fi), tuskallinen (fi)
Greek: επώδυνος (el) (epódynos)
Hawaiian: ʻeha
Higaonon: masakit
Italian: doloroso (it)
Japanese: 痛い (ja) (いたい, itai)
Korean: 아프다 (ko) (apeuda)
Latin: dolens (la)
Maori: tārū, tārūrū, hīrawerawe, pāwera
Mbyá Guaraní: axy
Persian: دردناک‎ (fa) (dardnâk)
Polish: bolesny (pl)
Portuguese: dolorido (pt), doído (pt)
Russian: больно́й (ru) (bolʹnój)
Spanish: dolorido (es), adolorido (es) (Americas)
Swedish: smärtsam (sv)
Tagalog: masakit
Vietnamese: đau đớn (vi)

requiring labor or toil

Bulgarian: тру́ден (bg) (trúden)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 吃力的 (chīlì de), 艱苦的, 艰苦的 (jiānkǔ de)
Dutch: moeizaam (nl), smartelijk (nl)
Finnish: raskas (fi), rasittava (fi), työläs (fi)
French: laborieux (fr)
Greek: επίπονος (el) (epíponos)
Hungarian: fáradságos (hu), nehéz (hu)
Japanese: 苦しい (ja) (くるしい, kurushii), 困難な (ja) (こんなんな, konnan na); (figurative) 骨の折れる (ほねのおれる, hone no oreru)
Latin: laboriosus
Portuguese: árduo (pt), extenuante (pt)
Russian: тяжёлый (ru) (tjažólyj), тя́гостный (ru) (tjágostnyj), тя́жкий (ru) (tjážkij)
Spanish: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} jandar (ku), ^{(please verify)} biêş (ku), ^{(please verify)} êşdar (ku), ^{(please verify)} biazar (ku), ^{(please verify)} biezyet (ku)
Old French: ^{(please verify)} dolent
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} ağrılı (tr)