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doloroso

painful

adjective doh-loh-ROH-zoh Rare

Also means

distressing

Usage Note

Doloroso covers both physical pain (una ferita dolorosa = 'a painful wound') and emotional distress (un ricordo doloroso = 'a painful memory'). It should not be confused with the English 'dolorous', which is literary and archaic; in Italian doloroso is perfectly everyday. The feminine form is dolorosa.

Examples

"L'operazione è stata molto dolorosa."

Natural Translation

The operation was very painful.

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