From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishit pains somebody to do somethingit pains somebody to do somethingformalUPSET used to say that it is very difficult and upsetting for someone to have to do something → pain
Examples from the Corpus
it pains somebody to do something• Most burglars, it pains me to say, are just looking for the easy dollar.• It pained her to see how much older Bill was looking.• As much as it pains us to write this, now is time for Dan to step down. 