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painfully

/ˈpeɪnfəli/
/ˈpeɪnfəli/
IPA guide

Doing something painfully means doing it in a way that hurts a whole lot, like painfully stubbing your bare toe on the sidewalk when you're showing off on your new skateboard.

If something occurs in a way that causes pain, it happens painfully. This can range from painfully pulling a muscle when you're playing tennis to painfully coughing when you've got a sore throat. You can also use this adverb figuratively, for something that seems exaggerated or extreme: "The novel was painfully overwrought, full of overly dramatic prose" or "My brother is painfully shy."

Definitions of painfully
  1. adverb
    unpleasantly
    “his ignorance was painfully obvious”
    synonyms: distressingly
  2. adverb
    in or as if in pain
    “she moved painfully forward”
    synonyms: sorely
    see moresee less
    antonyms:
    painlessly
    without pain
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘painfully'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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