PAINFUL

adj. 1 hurting, grievous, hurtful, sore, distressing, distressful, excruciating, torturous, agonizing, smarting, stinging, aching, achy, throbbing, burning, piercing, stabbing, sharp, tender, sensitive, raw, bitter, Formal nociceptive The bullet caused a painful wound in the knee Mother's arthritis can be quite painful at times. 2 vexing, vexatious, annoying, harassing, irritating, irksome, aggravating, galling, exasperating, unpleasant, afflictive, harrowing, worrisome, worrying, troubling, disquieting, disturbing, distressing Fighting in the front lines was a painful experience for Rupert 3 painstaking, laborious, careful, rigorous, arduous, assiduous, sedulous, diligent, earnest, conscientious, meticulous, scrupulous, detailed, thorough, thoroughgoing, exacting, demanding A great deal of painful research went into discovering the cause of yellow fever