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peinlich. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
peinlich, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
peinlich in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
peinlich you have here. The definition of the word
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German
Etymology
From Pein + -lich. Similar to Dutch pijnlijk. Doublet of pingelig.
Pronunciation
Adjective
peinlich (strong nominative masculine singular peinlicher, comparative peinlicher, superlative am peinlichsten)
- woeful, hurtful
- (archaic) penal, applying criminal law, having to do with jurisprudence competent for capital punishment
- (archaic, relational) pertaining to or containing torture
- ein peinliches Verhör ― a painful interrogation
- (now most common meaning) embarrassing, cringeworthy, or otherwise awkward, perverse, adverse, untoward
- Synonyms: blamabel, unangenehm, beschämend
- Es gab eine peinliche Stille. ― There was an awkward silence.
- Mir unterlief ein peinlicher Fehler. ― I made an embarrassing mistake.
- (obsolete) crotchety, truculent
- Synonyms: schwierig, nervig, ärgerlich, haderlich, streitsüchtig, streitwillig
- (usually adverbial) meticulous
- Synonyms: akribisch, penibel, genau, pingelig
- Regeln peinlich genau beachten ― to meticulously follow the rules
Declension
Positive forms of peinlich
Comparative forms of peinlich
Superlative forms of peinlich
Derived terms
Further reading