painfully obvious/clear/evident/apparent• At Pontypool, the collision between a precise, scientificindustry and a diffuse, unscientific local suspicion is painfully apparent.• She had resented Eline from the first moment and made her hate of Joe Harries painfully obvious.• Should the government reduce the actualfrequency of tragedies, or should it simply make them less painfully obvious?• Sometimes the pitfalls in not looking at it from all these angles become painfully clear.• It is becoming painfully clear, however, that students at Stirling University can no longer afford to take their Association for granted.• It was soon painfully evident that the fears of the University Council regarding a minorityplot to unseat them were justified.• This process makes the long-term costs of decisionspainfully clear to the press and the public.• It was soon painfully obvious who the winner was in this contest.