painfully
/ˈpeɪnfəli/adverb
painfully is spelled P-A-I-N-F-U-L-L-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, painfully means “In a painful manner; as if in pain” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in painfully?
| Letters | 9: P-A-I-N-F-U-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is painfully?
Painfully appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce painfully?
- /ˈpeɪnfəli/
Painfully has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-painfully.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of painfully
- more painfully comparative
- most painfully superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does painfully mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a painful manner; as if in pain.
I limped painfully down the stairs.
- 2
informalBadly; poorly.
That was the most painfully sung rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon” that I’ve ever heard.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Painfully in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a painful manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | douloureusement, péniblement |
| German | schmerzhaft |
| Portuguese | dolorosamente |
| Spanish | dolorosamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does painfully come from?
From Middle English peinfully, paynefully, equivalent to painful + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).