noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The state or quality of being painful, of causing pain. uncountable, usually
2. 2
   the quality of being painful wordnet
3. 3
   The state or quality of being tedious, of requiring great care. uncountable, usually

   "Near-synonyms: tediousness, laboriousness"

4. 4
   emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

angstanguishanxietybitternessblahsboredom

Antonyms

All antonyms

painlessnessunpainfulness

Example

More examples

"Near-synonyms: tediousness, laboriousness"

Etymology

From Middle English peynfulnes, peynfulnesse, equivalent to painful + -ness.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.