Painstaking

Definition: Painstaking

Painstaking

Adjective

1. Characterized by extreme care and great effort; "conscientious application to the work at hand"; "painstaking research"; "scrupulous attention to details".

Date "painstaking" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references)

Synonyms: Painstaking

Synonyms: conscientious (adj), scrupulous (adj). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Activity	Industry, assiduity; assiduousness; Adjective: sedulity; laboriousness; drudgery; (labor); painstaking, diligence; perseverance; a; indefatigation; habits of business.
	Industrious, assiduous, diligent, sedulous, notable, painstaking; intent; (attention); indefatigable; (persevering) a; unwearied; unsleeping, never tired; plodding, hard-working; businesslike, workaday.
Exertion	Hard-working, painstaking; strenuous, energetic.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Painstaking

English words defined with "painstaking": carefulness, conscientiousness ♦ elaboration ♦ fastidiously ♦ Lucubratory ♦ minute ♦ narrow ♦ painstakingly, painstakingness, Penible ♦ unconscientiousness ♦ working out. (references)

Specialty definitions using "painstaking": Horse ♦ Patent ♦ ring-shaped occurrences ♦ Screw ♦ Way. (references)

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Other tools have been developed that make the painstaking work of teasing out the disease's genetic secrets possible. (references)
Economic History	Saudi Arabia	The process is complex and at times painstaking, but will ultimately result in an agreement that is based on the implementation of WTO provisions and on the adoption of measures that will provide enhanced transparency in and access to the Saudi market. (references)
	Cyprus	Exceptions can be made for projects requiring larger plots of land (i.e. beyond that necessary for a private residence) but this is a painstaking procedure, often with negative results. (references)
Worker Rights	Honduras	The Ministry of Labor sought to address these deficiencies by requesting increased funding in the Government's budget, by dismissing or transferring Ministry of Labor employees whose performance was unsatisfactory, by opening more regional offices to facilitate worker access to Ministry of Labor services, and by conducting a painstaking, ongoing review of the Labor Code. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Painstaking" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Painstaking" is used about 211 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)	100%	211	20,883

Expressions using "painstaking": painstaking research ♦ painstaking schoolboy ♦ painstaking selection. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "painstaking"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		tepër i kujdesshëm (jealous), i saktë (accurate, clean-cut, clear-cut, close, correct, definite, exact, explicit, express, just, literal, neat, Pat, pithy, precise, pronounced, pure, right, strict, stringent, true, unexceptional, veracious), i përpiktë (exact, neat, orderly, precise, punctilious, right, scrupulous). (various references)

Arabic		‏مواظب (assiduous, diligent, persevering, sedulous), ‏مجتهد (assiduous, diligent, hard working, industrious, thorough), ‏مثابر (persevering, persistent), ‏جاهد (active, militate, strive, strove), ‏شديد التدقيق (meticulous), ‏دقيق (accurate, careful, close, delicate, elaborate, exact, express, farina, fine, flour, inappreciable, infinitesimal, intangible, just, keen, mathematical, meal, nearness, nice, particular, pernickety, precise, punctilious, punctual, rigorous, scrupulous, searching, sharp, sound, specific, straightforward, strict, ticklish, tiny, touchy, tricky, true, veracious). (various references)

Bulgarian		старателен (assiduous, careful, patient, studious, thorough), старание (application, assiduity, effort, pains, study, trouble), усърден (assiduous, diligent, hard, industrious, mettled, mettlesome, patient, sedulous, strenuous, studious, thorough, warm), усърдие (alacrity, ardour, assiduity, assiduousness, diligence, hardness, impressment, industry, mettle, pains, sedulity, zeal), ревностен (ardent, eager, earnest, fanatic, fanatical, fervent, intense, jealous, keen, mettled, mettlesome, openmouthed, violent, zealous), щателен (minute, narrow, scrupulous, searching, severe), прилежание (application, diligence, sedulity, studiousness). (various references)

Chinese		刻苦 (painstakingly). (various references)

Czech		peèlivý (careful, rigorous, thorough), přièinlivost, přièinlivý (diligent, hardworking, studious), usilovný (strenuous), horlivost (alacrity, assiduity, eagerness, heat, solicitude, zeal), dùkladný (close, elaborate, firm, good, in depth, intimate, particular, profound, sound, stout, strong, substantial, thorough, thoroughgoing). (various references)

Farsi		ساعی (Active, Assiduous, Diligent, Industrious, Laborious, Sedulous, Studious), زحمت کش (Durdge, Hardworking, Laborious), رنجبر (Durdge, Toiler), رنج برنده . (various references)

Finnish		uuttera (assiduous, industrious). (various references)

French		soigneux, rigoureux, méticuleux, assidu, appliqué. (various references)

German		sorgfältig (careful, carefull, carefully, elaboratively, jealously, meticulous, meticulously, painstakingly, studious, studiously, studiousness, tender, thorough). (various references)

Greek		προσεκτικόσ (advertent, attentive, canny, careful, cautious, chary, chary of, close, heedful, mindful, observing, precautious, regardful, tactful, thoughtful, wakeful, wary, watchful), επιμελήσ (assiduous, attentive, careful, diligent, mindful, sedulous, studious). (various references)

Hebrew		מקפי�" (meticulous, pedantic, punctilious, severe, strict), מ�"ק�"ק. (various references)

Hungarian		gondos (attentive, careful, diligent, heedful, mindful, regardful, searching, solicitous, tender, thoughtful, tidy), alapos (accurate, basic, deep, drastic, exhaustive, extensive, intensive, profound, substantial, thorough, thoroughgoing). (various references)

Indonesian		telaten (patient, persevering). (various references)

Italian		Meticoloso(detto p.es.di un'analisi), coscienzioso (conscientious, earnest, scrupulous), accurato (accurate, careful, clean, faithful, natty, nice, painstakingly, particular, precise, sound, thorough, tidy, trim, true). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		鏤骨 (painstaking efforts), 沈吟 (groaning in distress, hum, meditation, painstaking elaboration on ones poem). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		る�"つ (painstaking efforts), ち�"ぎ�" (groaning in distress, hum, meditation, painstaking elaboration on ones poem, pay, wages). (various references)

Korean		근면한 (Assiduous, Diligent, hardworking). (various references)

Pig Latin		ainstakingpay.(various references)

Portuguese		trabalho (ado, craftsmanship, effort, employment, fabricate, function, hard up, job, job-, labor, labour, machine finishing, machining, mark, needs, operation, pain, process, processing, service, space, task, tool, work, working, workmanship, works), meticuloso (careful, finical, finicky, meticulous, picnic, punctilious, scrupulous, thorough), esmerado (neat, trim), esforços, esforço (ado, attempt, campaign, doings, effort, endeavor, endeavour, exertion, fetch, heft, pain, strain, straining, struggle, tax, tension, test, work, works), diligente (active, convinced, diligent, earnest, hardworking, in action, industrious, laborious, prompt, sedulous, studious), cuidadoso (accurate, attentive, careful, chary, close, convinced, earnest, exact, gingerly, heedful, mature, metier, mindful, regardful, safe, scrupulous, solicitous, thorough, tidy, tiptoe), cuidado (accuracy, attention, care, caution, heed, keeping, labored, laboured, neatness, nix, nursing, outlook, punctuality, river horse, safety first, solicitude, tendance, thought, vigilance, watch, watchout, worry), aplicado (applied, assiduous, diligent, engineering, hardworking, industrious, industriously, intent, sedulous, studious), afanoso (difficult, hard, inconvenient, laborious). (various references)

Romanian		strãdanie (effort, endeavor, endeavour, labor, labour, push, striving, struggle), silitor (active, assiduous, diligent, hard working, industrious, sedulous, strenuous), sârguincios (diligent, industrious, sedulous), ostenealã (effort, endeavor, endeavour, exertion, exhaustion, fatigue, pain, tiredness, trouble), minuţios (careful, close, elaborately, minute, painstakingly, particular, precise, punctilious, searching, severe, thorough), migãlos (careful, finical, niggling, painstakingly, precise, scrupulous, scrupulously), grijã (alarm, anxiety, attention, care, carefulness, charge, chariness, conscientiousness, custody, deliberation, foresight, harassment, mindfulness, neatness, observance, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, solicitude, thought, trouble, worriment, worry), care-şi dã osteneala, atent (advertent, alert, amiable, attentive, attentively, careful, carefully, close, closely, complaisant, considerate, courteous, curious, deliberately, delicate, heedful, intent, jealous, listening, mindfully, nice, observant, observantly, regardful, searching, tender, watchful). (various references)

Russian		тщательный (careful, narrow, nice, particular, rigorous, scrupulous, searching, thorough, thoroughgoing). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		radan (diligent, industrious), brižljiv (careful, caring, heedful). (various references)

Spanish		hecho con cuidado, esmerado (careful, conscientious, neat, polished), cuidadoso (careful, chary, deft, gingerly), cuidado (attention, care, carefulness, caution, concern, fondling, keeping, maintenance, nursing, repair, servicing, worry). (various references)

Swedish		noggrann (accurate, careful, close, exact, meticolous, meticulous, narrow, neat, nice, particular, precisely, scholastic, scrupulous, selective, studious). (various references)

Turkish		zahmet (bother, exertion, grueling, gruelling, inconvenience, onerousness, pain, pains, punishment, struggle, toil, travail, trouble), itina (attention, care), emek veren, özenli (assiduous, attentive, careful, elaborate, heedful, jealous, regardful, scrupulous, thoughtful), özen (application, assiduity, attention, care, elaboration, jealousy, pains, solicitude, thought). (various references)

Ukranian		старанність (accuracy, alacrity, application, assiduity, diligence, elaboration, exactness, goodwill, heartiness, impressment, nicety, particularity, sedulity, thoroughness), старанний (affectionate, assiduous, careful, diligent, duteous, operose, particular, scholarly, searching, sedulous, studious, willing), копіткий (niggling). (various references)

Vietnamese		chịu khó, cần cù; cẩn thận. (various references)

Welsh		llafurus (arduous, laborious, toilsome). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	curiosa, curiosae, curiose, curiosius, curiosus, laboriosa, laboriosae, laboriose, sedulae, sedule, sedulus. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "painstaking": painstakingly, painstakings. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Painstaking" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: painstakeng, paintaking. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "painstaking" (pronounced pā"nstā'king)
5	-t ā' k i ng	breathtaking, overtaking, undertaking.
4	-ā' k i ng	bookmaking, dressmaking, earthshaking, filmmaking, glassmaking, groundbreaking, handshaking, heartbreaking, homemaking, lawbreaking, lawmaking, matchmaking, moneymaking, moviemaking, muckraking, papermaking, peacemaking, steelmaking.
3	-k i ng	aching, antismoking, asking, attacking, backing, backtracking, baking, balking, banking, barking, basking, biking, bilking, blanking, blinking, blocking, bloodsucking, booking, braking, breaking, broking, Brooking, bucking, carjacking, caulking, chalking, checking, choking, chucking, clanking, clicking, cloaking, clucking, cocking, coking, cooking, corking, cornhusking, cracking, cranking, creaking, critiquing, croaking, debunking, decking, disliking, docking, drinking, ducking, duking, earmarking, eking, embarking, evoking, faking, flaking, flanking, flicking, flocking, flunking, forking, forsaking, franking, freaking, frolicking, fucking, gawking, hacking, hardworking, harking, Hawking, hijacking, hiking, hitchhiking, Hocking, honking, hooking, hulking, interlocking, invoking, jacking, jaywalking, jerking, joking, junking, kayaking, kicking, knocking, lacking, leaking, licking, liking, linking, locking, looking, lovemaking, Lucking, lurking, making, marking, masking, meatpacking, metalworking, milking, mimicking, mistaking, mocking, mucking, multitasking, networking, nitpicking, nonbanking, nonsmoking, overbooking, overlooking, packing, panicking, parking, peaking, pecking, peeking, perking, picking, piggybacking, planking, plinking, plucking, plunking, poking, politicking, provoking, quaking, quarterbacking, racking, raking, ranking, ransacking, rebuking, reeking, reinking, remaking, remarking, restocking, retaking, rethinking, revoking, reworking, risking, rocking, rollicking, sacking, seeking, shaking, sharking, shirking, shocking, shrieking, shrinking, shucking, sinking, sleepwalking, smacking, smirking, smoking, snaking, sneaking, soaking, socking, spacewalking, spanking, sparking, speaking, spiking, squawking, squeaking, stacking, staking, stalking, sticking, stinking, stockbroking, stocking, stoking, streaking, striking, stroking, sucking, sulking, tacking, taking, talking, tanking, tasking, thanking, ticking, tracking, trafficking, trekking, tricking, trucking, tucking, tweaking, undocking, unlocking, unpacking, unthinking, viking, waking, walking, whacking, winking, wisecracking, woodworking, working, wracking, wreaking, wrecking, yanking.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-g-i-i-k-n-n-p-s-t"
	-2 letters: antikings, paintings.
	-3 letters: antiking, ignatias, kingpins, paganist, painting, patining, pinkings, sainting, spanking, staining, stinking.
	-4 letters: against, anginas, antings, antisag, ignatia, kainits, kingpin, napkins, paiking, paining, panting, pastina, pasting, patinas, pianist, pigskin, pinangs, pinatas, pinking, saining, sinking, skating, skiting, snaking, sniping, spiking, spiting, staking, staning, taipans, takings, tanking, tasking.
	-5 letters: angina, anting, askant, asking, gainst, gaskin, giants, inking, inspan, isatin, kainit, kiangs, kinins, kiting, napkin, pagans, paints, paisan, pangas, patina, patins, piking, pinang, pinata, pining, pinnas, pintas, ptisan, saning, satang, sating, siping, siting, skiing, taigas, taipan, taking, takins, tankas, taping, tining, tsking.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-g-i-i-k-n-n-p-s-t"
	+1 letter: painstakings.
	+2 letters: painstakingly.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.