How to Use painful in a Sentence

painful

adjective
  • 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.
  • How painful are black fly bites?
    — Alexiah Syrai Olsen, Sacbee.com, 27 May 2026
  • Very painful, takes a lot of work.
    — Jason Del Rey, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
  • This both sounds painful and is painful.
    — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
  • What was the most painful scene to shoot?
    — Kennedy French, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
  • This is the most painful scene in the film.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2026
  • Still, their bite can pack a painful punch.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2026
  • For now, this team will sit with a painful loss.
    — Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
  • That’s a painful list to type out, much less read.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
  • His Horns are one painful watch of late.
    — Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Slide the painful foot back, and plant the heel to the floor.
    — Cori Ritchey, Men's Health, 8 Apr. 2023
  • How can something so small be so painful?
    — Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The lashing out has been painful.
    — Lauren Giella, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Making an out is painful for the guy.
    — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
  • What makes this more painful and truthful?
    — Kennedy French, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
  • So hearing that was very painful, very scary.
    — Idaho Statesman, 20 Oct. 2025
  • His humor is dark, painful, but very present.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Drink with a straw to bypass painful mouth sores.
    — CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • When gas prices spike, filling up gets more painful.
    — ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Their rise has been slow, uneven and at times painful.
    — Anna Strebl, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • These gumballs aren’t just painful to step on, though.
    — Cori Sears, The Spruce, 14 May 2026
  • Then bit my own lips hard until the painful lump went away.
    — Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Both trips will be painful, eye-opening, and telling.
    — Michael Stevens, New York Daily News, 19 June 2026
  • Often, stools are hard, dry, and painful to pass.
    — Teresa Maalouf, Verywell Health, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Boomslang snake bites are rare, but can cause a painful death.
    — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 15 Dec. 2021
  • The man had a painful rash on his shins and had fainted twice.
    — Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The first two goals were painful, but the third goal broke Moore.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2022

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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