painfully

/ˈpeɪnfəli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.47 in modern English

Scrabble Score

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Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

In a painful manner; as if in pain.

adv

Informal

"I limped painfully down the stairs."
"The unsufficiency and uncandidness of his answer became painfully apparent in the dead silence of the room."
"That was the most painfully sung rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon” that I’ve ever heard."

From Middle English peinfully, paynefully, equivalent to painful + -ly.

more painfully (comparative) most painfully (superlative)

gainfully

Questions

How do you pronounce painfully?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpeɪnfəli/.

What does painfully mean?

In a painful manner; as if in pain.

Where does painfully come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce painfully

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “painfully”.

Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpeɪnfəli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.

Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “painfully”.

Repeat and practice — Say “painfully” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.