01 a. Full of pain; causing uneasiness or distress, either physical or mental; afflictive; disquieting; distressing.
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1.
Full of pain; causing uneasiness or distress, either physical or mental; afflictive; disquieting; distressing.
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2.
Requiring labor or toil; difficult; executed with laborious effort; as a painful service; a painful march.
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3.
Painstaking; careful; industrious.[Obs.]“A very painful person, and a great clerk.” — Jer. Taylor.“Nor must the painful husbandman be tired.” — Dryden.
Syn.
Disquieting; troublesome; afflictive; distressing; grievous; laborious; toilsome; difficult; arduous.