painfully

painfully — adverb

1. When something happens or is done painfully, it hurts your body or your feelings

1.副詞B1
釋義

When something happens or is done painfully, it hurts your body or your feelings — for instance, pressing a bruise, twisting a wrist, or hearing upsetting news.

例句

Yasmin bent her ankle painfully when she tripped over the garden hose.

modifies verb of physical action: bent painfully

Liam rubbed his sore back painfully after lifting the heavy furniture.

同義詞
  • sorely

    more formal and often limited to emotional or figurative pain, not physical

  • achingly

    emphasises a continuous or deep type of pain, often emotional

反義詞
  • painlessly

    describes an action that causes no pain at all

文法句型

verb + painfully

painfully + verb

用法筆記

Common with verbs of physical impact (bend, twist, press, hit) and verbs of emotional experience (remind, realize, learn). Can describe both physical and emotional discomfort.

常見錯誤

❌He painfully learned about the accident.' — Ambiguous: does it mean learning caused him pain or he learned with great effort?
✅He learned about the accident painfully, through a phone call from the hospital.
💡Place 'painfully' after the verb to make the manner clear.

2. Put before an adjective to emphasise that a quality is true to an unpleasant or

2.副詞B2
釋義

Put before an adjective to emphasise that a quality is true to an unpleasant or uncomfortable degree — for instance, a wait that is painfully slow, a flaw that is painfully obvious, or a truth that is painfully clear.

例句

The truth was painfully clear when Kevin saw the empty refrigerator.

modifies adjective: painfully clear / obvious

Sora's lack of experience became painfully obvious during her first presentation.

同義詞
  • extremely

    neutral in tone; does not carry the negative connotation that 'painfully' does

  • terribly

    similar negative connotation but less intense and more conversational

  • unbearably

    closer in intensity; suggests the quality is almost too much to endure

反義詞
  • pleasantly

    describes a quality that is agreeable rather than uncomfortable

文法句型

painfully + adjective

用法筆記

Always placed directly before the adjective it modifies. Used only with negative or undesirable qualities — 'painfully delicious' or 'painfully wonderful' sound unnatural in English.

常見錯誤

❌Her speech was painfully inspiring.' — 'painfully' clashes with the positive word 'inspiring'.
✅Her speech was painfully dull.
💡Use 'painfully' only with negative or uncomfortable qualities.
❌The exam was painfully.' — 'painfully' needs an adjective to modify.
✅The exam was painfully long.
💡Always follow 'painfully' (in this sense) with an adjective.