excruciate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to inflict severe pain upon; torture.
The headache excruciated him.
-
to cause mental anguish to; irritate greatly.
verb
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to inflict mental suffering on; torment
-
obsolete to inflict physical pain on; torture
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of excruciate
1560–70; < Latin excruciātus, past participle of excruciāre to torment, torture, equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + cruciāre to torment, crucify (derivative of crux cross); see -ate 1
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:
"He will be vulgarly stuck up, and excruciate me with every French word he attempts to pronounce."
From Magnum Bonum by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
"You didn't excruciate my wrist so like time!" groaned Bill.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 83, September, 1864 by Various
Her presence used to excruciate Osborne; but go she would upon all parties of pleasure on which she heard her young friends were bent.
From Vanity Fair by Thackeray, William Makepeace
"And your bilious eyes and eyelids full of crows' feet, and the gout and the rheumatism which excruciate you?—those horrid spiders which are weaving their threads in the muscles of your calves?"
From Le Morvan, [A District of France,] Its Wild Sports, Vineyards and Forests; with Legends, Antiquities, Rural and Local Sketches by Jesse, William
“Zama,” a brief, indelible novel by the Argentinean writer Antonio Di Benedetto, is a work of waiting—of enforced lassitude, excruciated anticipation, and final frustration.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 15, 2017
The speaker is Tithonus himself, in love with Dawn but excruciated to be held captive to yet another day.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 5, 2016
Take care, Alex, take care," cried Beatrice, in a sort of excruciated tone; "don't you see what a pinch you are giving it!
From Henrietta's Wish Or, Domineering by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
I must leave off writing; I am excruciated with the toothache, which has tormented me without respite all day.
From Records of a Girlhood by Kemble, Fanny
He was excruciated with her burlesque, tried to drag her to her feet, but he had only one hand and he could not manage her.
From The Cup of Fury A Novel of Cities and Shipyards by Raleigh, Henry
Plus, this excruciating level of oversight likely isn’t personal, says Tessa West, a psychology professor at New York University and the author of “Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Noskova's second-set collapse was excruciating to watch for the 15,000-strong crowd on Centre Court, but the way in which she mentally reset in the decider was admirable.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Soraida's 44-year-old sister, Rosanna Luna, says not knowing what happened her sister is excruciating.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Watching that Rosetta Stone-cold stupid footage here, you’re struck not only by his audacity, but by the scene’s excruciating comic pacing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
The muscles in my knee throb and tighten to excruciating uselessness.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
