painfully

Everyday

1. Painfully means in a way that hurts or causes pain. tree →
2. Painfully means very, so much that it is uncomfortable: painfully slow, painfully shy. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and everyday talk it intensifies: «painfully obvious» means extremely obvious, often embarrassingly. In health: «he walked painfully» shows an injury. Phrases: «painfully slow», «painfully shy», «painfully obvious», «painfully aware».

Examples

• He limped painfully off the pitch. tree →
• The queue moved painfully slowly. tree →
• She was painfully shy on her first day. tree →
• It was painfully obvious that he had not done his homework. tree →
• My sunburn felt painfully hot. tree →
• The old dog climbed the stairs painfully. tree →
• So he pretended he was lame, and began to hobble painfully. tree →

Note

From «painful» + «-ly»: two «l»s in «painfully». Often goes before an adjective to mean «very» in an unpleasant way.