1
: feeling pain : hurt
2
: expressing or involving pain
a pained expression
with pained surprise

Examples of pained in a Sentence

She wore a pained expression on her face. He truly looked pained when he heard the news.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cop and robber party together, share their pained back stories and unoriginal jokes about French cuisine and evade a local police squad known as Pantera. Robert Daniels, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025 The actor’s performance as Tóth is pained and lived-in: In the film’s opening moments, Tóth’s ecstatic relief upon arriving at Ellis Island from Hungary—even though he’s been separated from his wife and niece—feels palpable. David Sims, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025 What Ross does, with his highly formal conceit, is to return shock—a pained grandeur—to the moment of race realization. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024 Once more layering the frame with oxidized textures redolent of water damage and mirror rot, his exacting compositions suggest a pained present becoming shameful history before the very eyes of its participants. Guy Lodge, Variety, 12 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pained 

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pained was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pained

Cite this Entry

“Pained.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pained. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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