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Painful vs Tormenting - What's the difference?

painful | tormenting |

As adjectives the difference between painful and tormenting

is that painful is causing pain or distress, either physical or mental while tormenting is involving or causing torment.

As a verb tormenting is

.

As a noun tormenting is

the act by which somebody is tormented.

painful

English

(wikipedia 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

    tormenting

    English

    Verb

    (head)

    • Adjective

    (more)
  • Involving or causing torment.

    • Synonyms

    * tormentous

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act by which somebody is tormented.
  • * 1832 , Mary Brunton, Self Control (page 335)
    • If Laura really entertained the hope she mentioned, she was miserably disappointed; for Lady Pelham remitted not a jot of her tormentings .