PA'INFUL, adjective Giving pain, uneasiness or distress to the body; as a painful operation in surgery. 1. Giving pain to the mind; afflictive; disquieting; distressing. Evils have been more painful to us in the prospect, than in the actual pressure. 2. Full of pain; producing misery or affliction. 3. Requiring labor or toil; difficult; executed with laborious effort; as a painful service. The army had a painful march. 4. Laborious; exercising labor; undergoing toil; industrious. Nor must the painful husbandman be tired.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI