penosamente

painfully, laboriously

adverb peh-noh-sah-MEHN-teh Rare

Usage Note

Penosamente derives from penoso (painful, distressing) plus -mente. It describes something accomplished with great effort and suffering, or something that is embarrassingly poor. Avanzar penosamente means to struggle forward, while actuar penosamente can mean to perform embarrassingly badly — context clarifies the shade of meaning.

Examples

"El herido avanzó penosamente hasta la salida."

Natural Translation

The injured man struggled painfully to the exit.

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