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# painful

adjective (painful, more painful, most painful)

«painful» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Painful means causing pain or hurting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#m1)
2. Painful means making you feel sad, upset or embarrassed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#m2)
3. Painful can mean very hard or slow to watch or do. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#m3)

### In the lessons

In health and first-aid lessons pupils describe painful injuries (a painful knee, a painful bee sting) and tell an adult when something is painful. In feelings lessons a painful memory or a painful goodbye. Phrases: a painful injury, painful to watch, painfully slow, painful memory.

### Examples

- My sprained ankle was very painful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x1)
- A bee sting can be painful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x2)
- Tell the nurse where it is painful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x3)
- Saying goodbye to our dog was painful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x4)
- It was painful to watch our team lose. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x5)
- The splinter was small but painful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x6)
- The scene of past sufferings revives painful memories. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/#x7)

### Note

Adjective from «pain» + «-ful» (one l). Adverb: painfully. Opposite: painless. Do not confuse «painful» (it hurts you) with «in pain» (you are hurting): «My knee is painful» / «I am in pain».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «painful» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/painful/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«painful» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/painful.html) on Mova free.