excruciating
Americanadjective
-
extremely painful; causing intense suffering; unbearably distressing; torturing: excruciating pain.
an excruciating noise;
excruciating pain.
- Synonyms:
- racking, agonizing, unendurable, insufferable, unbearable
-
exceedingly elaborate or intense; extreme.
done with excruciating care.
adjective
-
unbearably painful; agonizing
-
intense; extreme
he took excruciating pains to do it well
-
informal irritating; trying
-
humorous very bad
an excruciating pun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of excruciating
First recorded in 1655–65; excruciat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
Something that’s really intense or painful is excruciating. If you go skiing and break your leg in several places, the ride from the slope to the hospital will be excruciating — unless you're unconscious, too. Excruciating doesn't just hurt. It feels like torture. This adjective actually comes to us from the Latin excruciatus, which means “to afflict, harass, vex, torment.” Extremely painful injuries are certainly excruciating, but sometimes so are tedious tasks or long waits: Watching the old lady in front of you pay for her groceries one nickel at a time can be just as excruciating as 4 broken ribs, especially if you're in a hurry.
Vocabulary lists containing excruciating
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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I Am Malala
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Brave New World
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Excruciating", "sycophantic" and "cringeworthy" are the words being used to describe some of them.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026
Excruciating hunger may be fought by comparing it with real famine or with the precarious situation in which many elderly people live.
From Scientific American • Apr. 16, 2021
Excruciating historical dramas, from When they See Us to Chernobyl and Our Boys, discuss!
From Slate • Dec. 12, 2019
Excruciating losses became routine for the Hoyas in the closing week of the regular season, beginning with a 90-87 defeat in overtime to Butler in the final home game for Georgetown’s seniors.
From Washington Post • Mar. 8, 2016
“And the strongest memory that came was hunger. It came from many generations back. Centuries back. The population had gotten so big that hunger was everywhere. Excruciating hunger and starvation. It was followed by warfare.”
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
