more painful

ADJECTIVE

physically or mentally agonizing

Synonyms

STRONGEST

agonizing arduous awful difficult dire distasteful distressing excruciating hard harrowing hurtful severe tedious terrible troublesome uncomfortable unpleasant

WEAK

aching afflictive biting burning caustic disagreeable dreadful extreme extremely bad grievous hurting inflamed irritated laborious piercing raw saddening sensitive sharp smarting sore stinging tender throbbing tormenting trying vexatious

Antonyms

STRONGEST

agreeable calm easy facile friendly good great helpful mild nice pleasant pleasing simple wonderful

WEAK

delightful painless

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I fear these factors will coalesce to make an eventual market downturn even more painful than it would be otherwise.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

UK-based Destiny content creator My name is Byf posted: "Saying goodbye like this is more painful than I can fathom," adding: "I can only hope the road doesn't end here for good."

From BBC • May 22, 2026

But the cocktail’s second ingredient, misoprostol, can be used to produce abortion on its own — a method that’s often more painful and slightly less effective.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2026

The only downside: “Wearing the tape for extra hours was more painful than I expected,” Kim said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Hearing him say it out loud makes it more painful.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson