1 (physically) [+injury, swelling] doloroso childbirth need not be a painful experience
a slow and painful death una muerte lenta y dolorosa; my ankle is still painful todavía me duele el tobillo; her wrist was painful to the touch la muñeca le dolía al tocarla
her glands were swollen and painful he complained of painful joints he found it painful to move
was it very painful? ¿te dolió mucho?; he received a painful blow on the back recibió un golpe en la espalda que le causó un intenso dolor
a painful back injury arthritis causes painful inflammation of the joints sunburn can be extremely painful
2 (mentally) [+memory, reminder, experience] doloroso; [+task, decision] penoso it will be a long and painful process será un proceso largo y doloroso penoso;or
the return to democracy will be a long and painful process after 25 years of military dictatorship after he died she began the painful process of sorting out her husbands belongings she finds it too painful to return there without him he's just been through a rather painful divorce remarks like that brought back /painful memories/ it was one of the most painful decisions I had to make deciding whether to have an abortion is one of the most painful decisions a woman may have to make the televised interviews with relatives of the victims were painful to watch his efforts of the wounded man to drag himself along the floor were painful to watch it was a painful experience for Sarah to read what the newspapers said about her the murder of Stacy Coleman serves as a painful reminder of the brutality of which man is capable the family pets were /a painful reminder of happier times/
his embarrassment was painful to witness daba pena ver lo abochornado que estaba; it is my painful duty to tell you that ... es mi penoso deber comunicarle que ...; tengo el desagradable deber de comunicarle que ...
3 (informal) (embarrassingly bad) fatal; (informal) de pena; (informal) que da vergüenza ajena
her acting was so bad it was painful to watch su actuación era tan mala que daba vergüenza ajena presenciarla; su actuación era de pena; (informal)
he made such a fool of himself in court it was painful to watch her singing was painful to listen to
