痛ましい・傷ましい|いたましいitamashii[4]nakadaka (mid-high)

1. i-adjectivepitiful; heartbreaking; heartrending; touching; tragic; sad; hurtful
   その痛いたましいエピソードは私には痛切つうせつに感かんじられた。↗

   The touching episode came home to me.

• Synonym痛々しいいたいたしいNeutralFor things that look painful to see, as in 「痛々しい傷」. 痛ましい stresses the tragedy of an event; this one stresses the pained appearance.
• Synonym気の毒きのどくNeutralEveryday word for feeling sorry about someone's misfortune; it also covers feeling bad about having troubled someone. Sympathy, not tragedy.
• Synonym哀れあわれNeutralPitiable or sorrowful, with a more literary feel than 痛ましい; it can also mean the refined pathos of 「もののあわれ」.
• SynonymかわいそうCasualThe most common everyday word for 'poor thing'; colloquial, voicing sympathy for someone in a hard spot. Softer than the tragedy of 痛ましい.
• Synonym悲惨ひさんNeutralDescribes the wretched scene itself, as in 「悲惨な事故」. Close to 痛ましい, but it centers on how dreadful the state is rather than your heartache.
• Synonym惨めみじめNeutralMiserable, as in 「惨めな暮らし」「惨めな思い」; covers both a wretched state in others' eyes and the person's own humiliated feeling.
• Synonym不憫ふびんNeutralPitiable, said most often of children or the weak; carries a tone of tender concern rather than the shock of 痛ましい.
• Synonymお気の毒おきのどくNeutralMeans 'what a pity' or 'I'm sorry to hear that'; often a polite set phrase showing sympathy for someone's misfortune, not a label for a tragic scene.
• SynonymいたわしいWrittenWritten and fairly uncommon; expresses heartfelt pity for someone who is suffering, where 痛ましい reacts to how tragic an event is.
• Related涙ぐましいなみだぐましいNeutralMoving to tears, as in 「涙ぐましい努力」. Centers on being touched, often by admirable effort; the situation need not be tragic at all.
• Related無残むざんNeutralCruel and ghastly, as in 「見るも無残」. Stresses the cruelty behind the scene; 痛ましい stresses the heartbreak the scene causes.
• Antonym喜ばしいよろこばしいNeutralAntonym: joyful or delightful, as of welcome news or results — the direct opposite of heartbreaking 痛ましい.

Use 「痛ましい」 for accidents or events so tragic they make your heart ache, as in 「痛ましい事故」「痛ましい事件」. For a painful-looking appearance say 「痛々しい」; for pitiable people, 「かわいそう」 or 「気の毒」; for a wretched scene, 「悲惨」. The antonym is 「喜ばしい」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 目めを背そむけたくなるほど痛々いたいたしい。悲惨ひさんで残酷ざんこくである。
2. 迷惑めいわくである。
3. （方言ほうげん、北海道ほっかいどう）もったいない。