Meaning & use
painstakingly
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Meanings
adverb
In a way that shows great care, effort, and attention to small details.
Grammar: An adverb of manner; it usually follows the verb or comes before the main verb: she checked it painstakingly / she painstakingly checked it.
Patterns
- do something painstakingly
- painstakingly + verb
- painstakingly detailed
The restorers painstakingly removed a century of dirt from the painting.
She went through the accounts painstakingly, checking every figure twice.
The old map had been painstakingly redrawn by hand.
adverb
In a slow, laborious way that takes a lot of time and patience.
Grammar: Used when the emphasis is on how long and tiring the work is rather than on accuracy; often with verbs like build, copy, or piece together.
Patterns
- painstakingly build something
- painstakingly piece something together
- painstakingly copy something
Volunteers painstakingly pieced the torn letters back together.
The wall was painstakingly rebuilt, stone by stone.
He painstakingly copied out the whole manuscript by hand.
Common combinations
- painstakingly detailed
- The report was painstakingly detailed, with a footnote for every claim.
- painstakingly slow
- Progress was painstakingly slow, but they never gave up.
- painstakingly accurate
- Her reconstruction of the scene was painstakingly accurate.
- work painstakingly
- They worked painstakingly through the night to finish the model.
- painstakingly restore something
- Experts painstakingly restored the ancient mosaic.
Synonyms and how they differ
- carefully
- More general and less strong; it says you avoided mistakes, but it doesn't suggest the long, tiring effort that 'painstakingly' does.
- meticulously
- Very close in meaning, but it stresses extreme attention to tiny details rather than the effort and time involved.
- thoroughly
- Focuses on doing something completely, from start to finish, rather than on the care taken over each small part.
Opposites
Word family
- painstaking adjective
- Showing great care and effort; the adjective form, as in 'painstaking research'.
- painstakingness noun
- The quality of being careful and thorough; a rare noun.
- pains noun
- Great care or effort, as in 'take pains to do something'.
Commonly confused: painstakingly or painfully? painstakingly or tediously?
painstakingly vs painfully
'Painfully' means in a way that causes pain or is embarrassing ('painfully shy'), while 'painstakingly' means with great care and effort.
painstakingly vs tediously
'Tediously' means in a boring, drawn-out way and is negative; 'painstakingly' is usually positive and praises the care taken.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'painstakingly' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Painstakingly' describes doing careful, detailed work, so checking each page for errors fits. Option 0 is wrong because finishing a race is not careful detailed work; option 2 confuses it with 'painfully', and option 3 makes no sense because enjoying something is not laborious.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “painstakingly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.