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:
Then came a period of torment for Brau-Boirie.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
What to do after writing some of this century’s most devastating songs about the torment of breaking up?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
But it’s mainly funny because this is what the Mets are: a habitually soul-crushing outfit that, especially when expectations are high, finds fresh and horrifying methods to torment its most loyal fans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
And so I am forever starting over with the torment of loss combined with an itchy yearning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
‘You’ve always known how I feel about her. Why do you torment her? Why do you hate her so much?”
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
The weight of the $80 monthly loan payments—which cover only interest—and the threat of her parents losing their land, torments Samrith Sarav.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
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
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
Backstory: The bitter rivalry between screen legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford helped propel this film about an aging onetime child star who torments her sister, a paraplegic former actor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025
And he turned back to his own writing—probably a sermon about hell’s torments, one of which was writing a short essay in thirty minutes.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
Noxious smoke and an influx of rats and flies attracted to rotting meat stored at the facility have tormented neighbors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 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
Jefferson could also be tormented by love, when it was shattered by loss.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
And the officials who tormented Landor, he concluded, did not provide that consent, so the lawsuit has to fail.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
In such cases, Tom’s father withdrew into himself, as if tormented by some dreadful sickness.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Gordon, however, did his chances no harm with a fine performance against Costa Rica, tormenting defender Shawn Johnson with electric changes of pace, making Declan Rice's opener and scoring England's second from the spot.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Brontë was fascinated by silent crypts and tormenting passions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
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
We have nothing but bread and tea and she doesn’t want the tormenting neighbors to see us with our tongues hanging out, suffering over the lovely smells floating up and down the lane.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
