adjective
C2
Proficient
painstaking
PAYNZ-tay-kihng
Painstaking (adjective) means Done with great care and thorough attention to detail. Example: “Restoring the painting required painstaking work over several months.”
adjective
1
Done with great care and thorough attention to detail.
"Restoring the painting required painstaking work over several months."
"Her painstaking research uncovered documents no one else had found."
How to use painstaking
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishExtremely careful and thorough, often to the point of being slow.
Common pairings
painstaking detail
painstaking research
painstaking effort
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Word forms
- Plural
- painstakings
- Comparative
- more painstaking
- Superlative
- most painstaking
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
Restoring the painting required _____ work over several months.
Etymology
Built from "pains" (effort) plus "taking," from the phrase "take pains." Because it's commonly pronounced as if it were "pain-staking," some speakers mistakenly assume it relates to a stake rather than to careful effort.
Synonyms
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Related words
Rhymes for painstaking
See all rhymes for painstaking →Frequently asked questions
What does “painstaking” mean?
The word “painstaking” means done with great care and thorough attention to detail. In plain terms, extremely careful and thorough, often to the point of being slow.
How do you pronounce “painstaking”?
“Painstaking” is pronounced PAYNZ-tay-kihng (/ˈpeɪnˌsteɪkɪŋ/ in IPA).
How do you use “painstaking” in a sentence?
Here is “painstaking” used in a sentence: “Restoring the painting required painstaking work over several months.”
What part of speech is “painstaking”?
“Painstaking” is an adjective.
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