torment
Americanverb (used with object)
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torments,
present (3rd person singular)
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tormented,
past participle, past
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tormenting
present participle
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to afflict with great bodily or mental suffering; pain.
to be tormented with violent headaches.
- Antonyms:
- please
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to worry or annoy excessively.
to torment one with questions.
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to throw into commotion; stir up; disturb.
noun
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torments
plural
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a state of great bodily or mental suffering; agony; misery.
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something that causes great bodily or mental pain or suffering.
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a source of much trouble, worry, or annoyance.
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an instrument of torture, as the rack or the thumbscrew.
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the infliction of torture by means of such an instrument or the torture so inflicted.
verb
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to afflict with great pain, suffering, or anguish; torture
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to tease or pester in an annoying way
stop tormenting the dog
noun
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physical or mental pain
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a source of pain, worry, annoyance, etc
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archaic an instrument of torture
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archaic the infliction of torture
Synonym Usage
Torment , rack , torture suggest causing great physical or mental pain, suffering, or harassment. To torment is to afflict or harass as by incessant repetition of vexations or annoyances: to be tormented by doubts. To rack is to affect with such pain as that suffered by one stretched on a rack; to concentrate with painful effort: to rack one's brains. To torture is to afflict with acute and more or less protracted suffering: to torture one by keeping one in suspense.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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tormentingnessnoun
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tormentedadjective
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tormentingadjective
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untormentedadjective
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untormentingadjective
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tormentedlyadverb
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tormentinglyadverb
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untormentinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tormentsimple
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tormentssimple
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have tormentedperfect
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has tormentedperfect
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am tormentingprogressive
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are tormentingprogressive
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is tormentingprogressive
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have been tormentingperfect progressive
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has been tormentingperfect progressive
Past
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tormentedsimple
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had tormentedperfect
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was tormentingprogressive
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were tormentingprogressive
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had been tormentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of torment
First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) Middle English, from Old French, from Latin tormentum “rope, catapult, torture,” from unattested tork w -ment- ( see torque, -ment); (verb) Middle English tormenten, from Old French tormenter, derivative of torment (compare Late Latin tormentāre )
Explanation
By repeatedly trying to make someone miserable you torment them. The noun torment is the result of the verb torment. After stealing the old lady's purse, you might expect to be tormented by many sleepless nights. Those nights without sleep will torment (tor-MENT) you. They are your torment (TOR-ment). Perhaps you shouldn't have done that. You'll doubtless notice the relationship between torture and torment. But the subtle difference between them is that to torment someone is to torture them repeatedly. Often this is used metaphorically. For example, calling someone over and over to demand payment isn't actually torture, but it's certainly a way to torment them.
Vocabulary lists containing torment
Number the Stars
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Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
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That Hurts! Synonyms for "Pain"
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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.
See Examples For:
As if Wendy’s hands, heart and day planner weren’t full enough, a panicky Jack determines to win her back, much to her torment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
He said the families of those killed and injured will be experiencing "torment".
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
The following track, “Death Wish,” is about the torment of a new love gone bad, and it unfolds over plucked acoustic guitars and a distant bass drum that sounds like a heartbeat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
A strikingly potent Frida, Isabel Leonard used her velvety mezzo to find the drama of the artist’s remembered torment as well as the undulating sensuality of her love for painting and colors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
“Why does that obstinate little voice in our heads torment us so?” he said, looking round the table.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The scene in which he torments his son by bouncing a basketball against his head was spoofed by Mike Myers' Dr Evil in the second Austin Powers film.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
So many torments get thrown at him he’s like a Job who needs a job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
After spending time in the divine abyss, we’re back in reality, ripped from the stratosphere and placed into one of life’s most mundane torments: the hygienist’s chair.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2025
Solange’s disgusting behavior as she torments her housemates is what the Eggers seem to be getting at.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2024
“The Phlegethon keeps the wicked in one piece so that they can endure the torments of the Fields of Punishment. I think...it might be the Underworld equivalent of ambrosia and nectar.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
In painful detail, she described the splitting headaches, body aches, chills, high fevers and hallucinations that had tormented her for days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
From Boyle Heights to Monterey Park, residents said they were overwhelmed by the smoke from the week-long fire, and then tormented by the horrible stench from decaying meat and seafood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The rearrangement allowed Shankly to recall Toshack, who had been left out of the initial match, and he and Keegan tormented the Germans in a 3-0 victory, Liverpool subsequently winning 3-2 on aggregate.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
His ambition was driven by ghosts and dysfunction, and he was well on his way to becoming one of those tormented “geniuses” who, in Carmy’s own words, just make everything worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
They were also tormented by diarrhea from the uncooked meat they had been forced to eat.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
A tormenting 16-3 defeat to the New England Patriots in the AFC wild-card round sent the Chargers’ season to an early finish Sunday for the second consecutive season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2026
"It is very tormenting as I have to look at... things I do not want to see," Fung told AFP.
From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025
They forced Snell to labor through 29 pitches, tormenting him with an array of foul balls and refusing to go down easily.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025
Mary Dunbar had accused them of bewitching and tormenting her.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025
“Guys, you’ve got to stop tormenting each other,” I said, as we made our way down the highway.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
