painfully C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings US /ˈpeɪnfəli/ UK /ˈpeɪnfəli/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adv in a manner causing physical or emotional pain, or to an extreme degree Progress on the report was painfully slow all afternoon. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adv · in a manner causing... agonizinglydistressinglyexcruciatinglysorelyacutely ↔ Opposites painlesslypleasantlycomfortably Word family Related forms painpainfulpained Etymology AI details From painful (pain + -ful) + the adverbial suffix -ly. Pain derives via Old French peine from Latin poena 'penalty', from Greek poinē. peine xno poena Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Emotions & Feelings Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # painfully **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adv **IPA (US):** /ˈpeɪnfəli/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈpeɪnfəli/ ## Meanings 1. in a manner causing physical or emotional pain, or to an extreme degree ## Examples - Progress on the report was painfully slow all afternoon. ## Synonyms - agonizingly - distressingly - excruciatingly - sorely - acutely ## Antonyms - painlessly - pleasantly - comfortably ## Related Forms - pain - painful - pained ## Roots and Affixes - Root: peine - Root: poena ## Etymology From painful (pain + -ful) + the adverbial suffix -ly. Pain derives via Old French peine from Latin poena 'penalty', from Greek poinē. ## AI Etymology Painfully is from painful (pain + -ful) + the adverbial suffix -ly. Pain derives via Old French peine from Latin poena 'penalty', from Greek poinē. Important recorded forms include peine (Old French) and poena (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers in a manner causing physical or emotional pain, or to an extreme degree. The wider family includes related words such as pain, painful, and pained. ## Topics - Emotions & Feelings - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown