painfully
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adverb:
- In a manner that causes or involves physical pain or suffering: Used to describe an action performed with or resulting in noticeable pain.
- In a manner that causes or involves mental or emotional distress: Used to describe something that is acutely distressing, embarrassing, or difficult to endure.
- To an extreme or very noticeable degree; unpleasantly obvious: Used as an intensifier to emphasize an undesirable quality or state.
Usage Examples
Adverb (Physical Pain):
- He walked painfully on his injured ankle. (He walked in a way that showed he was in physical pain.)
- The old man rose painfully from his chair. (He rose with visible difficulty and discomfort.)
Adverb (Mental/Emotional Distress):
- She was painfully aware of her mistake. (She was acutely and distressingly conscious of her error.)
- The memory of his words was painfully clear. (The memory was sharp and caused emotional hurt.)
Adverb (Extreme Degree):
- His lack of experience was painfully obvious. (His inexperience was extremely and embarrassingly evident.)
- The process of learning a new language can be painfully slow. (The process can be unpleasantly and frustratingly slow.)
Advanced Usage
- "painfully shy": Extremely and awkwardly shy.
- As a teenager, he was painfully shy and avoided social gatherings.
- "painfully honest": Brutally or uncomfortably truthful.
- She gave him a painfully honest assessment of his performance.
Variants and Related Words
- Painful (adjective): Causing physical or mental pain; distressing.
- It was a painful injury. / It was a painful memory.
- Pain (noun): Physical suffering or discomfort; emotional distress.
- She felt a sharp pain in her side. / He caused her great pain.
Synonyms
- Excruciatingly: In an intensely painful manner.
- Agonizingly: In a way that involves great suffering or anxiety.
- Distressingly: In a manner that causes anxiety, sorrow, or pain.
- Acutely: To a severe or intense degree.
- Unpleasantly: In a disagreeable or offensive manner.
Related Phrases
- To be painfully clear: To be extremely and undeniably obvious, often uncomfortably so.
- The need for change was painfully clear after the failed project.
- A painfully long wait: An unpleasantly extended period of waiting.
- It was a painfully long wait for the test results.
Adverb
- in or as if in pain
- she moved painfully forward
- sorely wounded
- unpleasantly
- his ignorance was painfully obvious