What is the Latin word for painful?

The usual Latin words for “painful” are acerbus, gravis, operōsus; also labōriōsus, difficilis. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“painful” in Latin

acerbusharsh, bitter, unripe, sour, premature, not yet marriageable; sharp, severe, bitter (i.e., extremely painful); rough, vi gravisheavy; pregnant; troublesome, hard operōsuspainstaking; active, busy, industrious; laborious labōriōsuslaborious, toilsome, demanding; industrious, hard-working difficilisdifficult, hard, troublesome; obstinate, intractable, hard to please or manage

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

painful

Causing or attended with pain, acerbus; gravis; dolorem afferens.

Causing or attended with labor, operosus; laboriosus; difficilis.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for painful?: The usual Latin words for “painful” are acerbus, gravis, operōsus; also labōriōsus, difficilis. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.