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Glite Dictionary
painfulness

painfulness

1 3.4
A state that causes physical or emotional hurt
  • noun
  • /ˈpeɪn.fəl.nəs/
translation icon : dolorosidad
  • In combining this image with the dancing "Hamara" and the fragments of Heraclitus, Saarikoski is accentuating the painfulness of the human condition arising from the everlasting cycle of opposites: life and death, day and night.

It's not just about whether we praise or criticize, it's also about pleasure and the lack of pleasure or painfulness or trouble.

Examples

  • The painfulness of her recent loss made it difficult for her to enjoy life again.

  • Angelika speaks for so many of us, the painfulness of broken dreams, our broken lives.

    Blog text (26)

  • Gray said that Pete "represents patience to the point of painfulness."

    Blog text (9)

  • It's not just about whether we praise or criticize, it's also about pleasure and the lack of pleasure or painfulness or trouble.

    Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy

  • Somehow, in the midst of this interview, you begin to rattle on about your personal anxieties, or about the painfulness of the writer's life.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Guilt also plays a role in directing future behavior, even when specific harm has not yet occurred: the anticipated painfulness of guilt seems to suffice.

    Academic text (2016)

  • "The emotions that the performance evokes in the children aptly contribute to reinforce the message of learning, the moral value of the group and of authority, while at the same time revealing the painfulness of being an individual."

    Academic text (1993)

  • He described the painfulness of the long recovery process after the surgery.

  • Many people underestimate the emotional painfulness that comes with a breakup.

Synonyms

pain
vspainfulness
∞ 1.8

A deep sad feeling caused by losing someone or something

means the state that causes such emotional or physical distress
hurt
vspainfulness
149 1.0

A feeling of emotional or physical pain

is the quality that makes something produce that injury or suffering
agony
vspainfulness
135 3.9

A very strong physical or mental pain

refers to the state or quality that causes that extreme suffering
discomfort
vspainfulness
119 3.2

A feeling of physical pain or mental unease

indicates a stronger quality that causes clear pain or serious distress
anguish
vspainfulness
96 6.8

A very strong, painful feeling of worry or sadness

is the quality that brings about such severe suffering rather than the feeling
unpleasantness
vspainfulness
17 4.2

A feeling of discomfort or dislike

focuses specifically on causing physical or emotional pain or distress
distressingness
vspainfulness
8.9

A state that causes strong worry and emotional pain

also covers physical pain as well as emotional pain
distressfulness
vspainfulness
8.1

The quality of making people feel very sad, worried, or uncomfortable

applies more widely to causing physical as well as emotional pain

Antonyms

comfort
190 1.0

A feeling of physical ease and being free from pain

painlessness
4.2

The state of having no physical or emotional pain

How Painful

painfulness
1 3.4

Surface Forms

painfulness singular
painfulnesses plural

Morphology

painfulness = painful (transparent) = pain + ful + ness

Formed by adding the nominalizing suffix '-ness' to the adjective 'painful', yielding the state or quality of being painful.

Etymology

The word painfulness begins with pain, which means 'hurt', and adds the parts -ful meaning 'full of' and -ness meaning 'state'. So, painfulness is the state of being full of or causing physical or emotional pain.