pain

/peɪn/

/peɪn/

Other forms: pains; pained; paining

If you feel pain, you feel acute physical or emotional discomfort. A sprained ankle will pain you. So will news of a loved one's death. If you "take pain" over something, it means you're being careful.

An annoying person can be described as a pain––it's understood that they don't cause you actual physical pain, but cause you emotional discomfort and distress. You can also describe this person as a "pain in the neck," "a pain in the butt," or "a royal pain."

Definitions of pain

1. noun

   a somatic sensation of acute discomfort
   “as the intensity increased the sensation changed from tickle to pain”

   synonyms: pain sensation, painful sensation

   types:

   mittelschmerz

   pain in the area of the ovary that is felt at the time of ovulation (usually midway through the menstrual cycle)

   phantom limb pain

   pain felt by an amputee that seems to be located in the missing limb

   twinge

   a sharp stab of pain

   type of:

   somaesthesia, somatesthesia, somatic sensation, somesthesia

   the perception of tactual or proprioceptive or gut sensations
2. noun

   a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder
   “the patient developed severe pain and distension”

   synonyms: hurting

   types:

   ache, aching

   a dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain

   agony, excruciation, suffering

   a state of acute pain

   arthralgia

   pain in a joint or joints

   burn, burning

   pain that feels hot as if it were on fire

   causalgia

   a burning pain in a limb along the course of a peripheral nerve; usually associated with skin changes

   colic, gripes, griping, intestinal colic

   acute abdominal pain (especially in infants)

   chest pain

   pain in the chest

   chiralgia

   a pain in the hand that is not traumatic

   distress

   extreme physical pain

   dysmenorrhea

   painful menstruation

   glossalgia, glossodynia

   pain in the tongue

   growing pains

   pain in muscles or joints sometimes experienced by children and often attributed to rapid growth

   haemorrhoid, hemorrhoid, piles

   pain caused by venous swelling at or inside the anal sphincter

   keratalgia

   pain in the cornea

   labor pain

   pain and discomfort associated with contractions of the uterus during labor

   mastalgia

   pain in the breast

   melagra

   rheumatic or myalgic pains in the arms or legs

   meralgia

   pain in the thigh

   metralgia

   pain in the uterus

   myalgia, myodynia

   pain in a muscle or group of muscles

   nephralgia

   pain in the kidney (usually felt in the loins)

   neuralgia, neuralgy

   acute spasmodic pain along the course of one or more nerves

   odynophagia

   severe pain on swallowing due to a disorder of the esophagus

   orchidalgia

   pain in the testes

   pang

   a sharp spasm of pain

   pang, sting

   a mental pain or distress

   photalgia, photophobia

   pain in the eye resulting from exposure to bright light (often associated with albinism)

   costalgia, pleuralgia, pleurodynia

   pain in the chest caused by inflammation of the muscles between the ribs

   podalgia

   foot pain

   proctalgia

   pain in the rectum

   referred pain

   pain that is felt at a place in the body different from the injured or diseased part where the pain would be expected

   renal colic

   sharp pain in the lower back that radiates into the groin; associated with the passage of a renal calculus through the ureter

   smart, smarting, smartness

   a kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore

   sting, stinging

   a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung

   stitch

   a sharp spasm of pain in the side resulting from running

   rawness, soreness, tenderness

   a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched)

   thermalgesia

   pain caused by heat

   throb

   a deep pulsating type of pain

   torment, torture

   unbearable physical pain

   ulalgia

   pain in the gums

   urodynia

   pain during urination

   chafing

   soreness or irritation of the skin caused by friction

   lead colic, painter's colic

   symptom of chronic lead poisoning and associated with obstinate constipation

   odontalgia, toothache

   an ache localized in or around a tooth

   throe

   severe spasm of pain

   Passion, Passion of Christ

   the suffering of Jesus at the Crucifixion

   backache

   an ache localized in the back

   primary dysmenorrhea

   painful menstruation that is intrinsic to menstruation and not the result of a disease

   secondary dysmenorrhea

   painful menstruation that is caused by some specific disorder (as endometriosis)

   cephalalgia, head ache, headache

   pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs

   bellyache, gastralgia, stomach ache, stomachache

   an ache localized in the stomach or abdominal region

   earache, otalgia

   an ache localized in the middle or inner ear

   tic douloureux, trigeminal neuralgia

   intense paroxysmal neuralgia along the trigeminal nerve

   sciatica

   neuralgia along the sciatic nerve

   birth pangs, labor pains, labour pains

   a regularly recurrent spasm of pain that is characteristic of childbirth

   afterpains

   pains felt by a woman after her baby is born; associated with contractions of the uterus

   rebound tenderness

   pain felt when a hand pressing on the abdomen is suddenly released; a symptom of peritoneal inflammation

   chafe

   soreness and warmth caused by friction

   type of:

   symptom

   (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease
3. noun

   emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid
   “the pain of loneliness”

   synonyms: painfulness

   antonyms:

   pleasure

   a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience

   types:

   growing pains

   emotional distress arising during adolescence

   unpleasantness

   the feeling caused by disagreeable stimuli; one pole of a continuum of states of feeling

   mental anguish

   sustained dull painful emotion

   hurt, suffering

   feelings of mental or physical pain

   distress, hurt, suffering

   psychological suffering

   agony, torment, torture

   intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain

   throes

   violent pangs of suffering

   discomfort, irritation, soreness

   an uncomfortable feeling of mental painfulness or distress

   anguish, torment, torture

   extreme mental distress

   self-torment, self-torture

   self-imposed distress

   tsoris

   (Yiddish) trouble and suffering

   wound

   a figurative injury (to your feelings or pride)

   type of:

   feeling

   the experiencing of affective and emotional states
4. noun

   something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness
   synonyms: annoyance, bother, botheration, infliction, pain in the neck

   types:

   nuisance

   (law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive

   irritant, thorn

   something that causes irritation and annoyance

   plague

   an annoyance

   abatable nuisance

   a nuisance that can remedied (suppressed or extinguished or rendered harmless)

   attractive nuisance

   anything on your premises that might attract children into danger or harm

   mixed nuisance

   a nuisance that is both a public nuisance and a private nuisance at the same time

   private nuisance

   a nuisance that interferes with your interest in and private use and enjoyment of your land

   common nuisance, public nuisance

   a nuisance that unreasonably interferes with a right that is common to the general public

   type of:

   negative stimulus

   a stimulus with undesirable consequences
5. noun

   a bothersome annoying person
   “that kid is a terrible pain”

   synonyms: nuisance, pain in the neck

   type of:

   disagreeable person, unpleasant person

   a person who is not pleasant or agreeable
6. verb

   cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed
   synonyms: ail, trouble

   types:

   break out, erupt, recrudesce

   become raw or open

   type of:

   hurt

   give trouble or pain to
7. verb

   cause emotional anguish or make miserable
   “It pains me to see my children not being taught well in school”

   synonyms: anguish, hurt

   types:

   break someone's heart

   cause deep emotional pain and grief to somebody

   agonise, agonize

   cause to agonize

   try

   give pain or trouble to

   excruciate, rack, torment, torture

   torment emotionally or mentally

   type of:

   discomfit, discompose, disconcert, rattle, untune, upset

   cause to lose one's composure