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Morbid vs Painful - What's the difference?

morbid | painful |

As adjectives the difference between morbid and painful

is that morbid is (originally) of, or relating to disease while painful is causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.

morbid

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (originally) Of, or relating to disease.
  • Taking an interest in unhealthy or unwholesome subjects such as death, decay, disease.
  • Suggesting the horror of death; macabre or ghoulish
  • Grisly or gruesome.
  • Derived terms

    * morbidity * morbidly * morbidness

    Synonyms

    * (of or relating to disease) pathological * (unhealthy or unwholesome) sick, twisted, unhealthy, unwholesome, warped * (suggesting the horror of death) black, ghoulish, grim, macabre * bloody, disgusting, gory, grisly, gruesome, sickening

    painful

    Alternative forms

    * painfull (archaic)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.
  • Afflicted or suffering with pain (of a body part or, formerly, of a person).
  • Requiring effort or labor; difficult, laborious.
  • * 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 , , Book 2, Ch. 2
  • For twenty generations, here was the earthly arena where painful living men worked out their life-wrestle

    Synonyms

    * (full of pain) doleful, sorrowful, irksome, annoying * (requiring labor or toil) laborious, exerting

    Antonyms

    * (causing pain) painless, painfree

    Derived terms

    * painfully * painfulness