different between painful vs frightful
painful
English
Alternative forms
- painfull (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English paynful, peinful, peynful, paynefull, peynefull, equivalent to pain +? -ful. Compare Danish pinefuld (“painful”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?pe?n.f?l/
Adjective
painful (comparative painfuller or more painful, superlative painfullest or most painful)
- Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental. [from 14th c.]
- Afflicted or suffering with pain (of a body part or, formerly, of a person). [from 15th c.]
- Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious. [from 15th c.]
- (now rare) Painstaking; careful; industrious. [from 16th c.]
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 142:
- The men bestow their times in fishing, hunting, warres, and such manlike exercises, scorning to be seene in any woman-like exercise, which is the cause that the women be very painefull, and the men often idle.
- 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, Book 2, Ch. 2
- For twenty generations, here was the earthly arena where painful living men worked out their life-wrestle
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 142:
- (informal) Very bad, poor.
- His violin playing is painful.
Synonyms
- (full of pain): doleful, sorrowful, smartful, irksome, annoying
- (requiring labor or toil): laborious, exerting
Antonyms
- (causing pain): painless, painfree
Derived terms
- painfully
- painfulness
Translations
painful From the web:
- what painful thought haunted the speaker why
- what painful periods mean
frightful
English
Alternative forms
- frightfull (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English frightful (“afraid”), from Old English forhtful (“fainthearted, timorous”). Equivalent to fright +? -ful.
Pronunciation
- enPR: fr?t?f?l, IPA(key): /?f?a?tf?l/
- Hyphenation: fright?ful
Adjective
frightful (comparative more frightful, superlative most frightful)
- (obsolete) Full of fright, whether
- Afraid, frightened.
- c. 1250, Genesis and Exodus, line 3459:
- Ðis frigtful ðus a-biden,
Quiles ðis dai?es for ben gliden.
- Ðis frigtful ðus a-biden,
- c. 1250, Genesis and Exodus, line 3459:
- Timid, fearful, easily frightened.
- Afraid, frightened.
- Full of something causing fright, whether
- Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming.
- (hyperbolic) Unpleasant, dreadful, awful (also used as an intensifier).
- 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 1:
- Francis Urquhart: What a frightful little man. Where do they find them these days?
Tim Stamper: God knows. If I had a dog like that, I'd shoot it.
Francis Urquhart: Well, yes. Quite.
- Francis Urquhart: What a frightful little man. Where do they find them these days?
- 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 1:
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:frightening
- See Thesaurus:bad
Derived terms
- frightfully
Translations
Adverb
frightful (comparative more frightful, superlative most frightful)
- (dialect) Frightfully; very.
References
- Webster's, "frightful", 1913.
- Oxford English Dictionary, "frightful, adj.", 1898.
Middle English
Alternative forms
- frigtful
Etymology
From Old English forhtful; equivalent to fright +? -ful.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?frixt?ful/
Adjective
frightful
- (rare) afraid, frightened
Descendants
- English: frightful
References
- “frightful, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.
frightful From the web:
- what frightful mean
- frightful what does it mean
- what does frightfully sorry mean
- what does frightful learn from chup
- what is frightful's mountain about
- what does frightfully common mean
- what does frightful
- what a frightful night for halloween
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