torture
Americannoun
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tortures
plural
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the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.
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a method of inflicting such pain.
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Often tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone.
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extreme anguish of body or mind; agony.
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a cause of severe pain or anguish.
verb (used with object)
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tortures,
present (3rd person singular)
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tortured,
past participle, past
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torturing
present participle
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to subject to torture.
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to afflict with severe pain of body or mind.
My back is torturing me.
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to force or extort by torture.
We'll torture the truth from his lips!
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to twist, force, or bring into some unnatural position or form.
trees tortured by storms.
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to distort or pervert (language, meaning, etc.).
verb
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to cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etc
to torture prisoners
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to give mental anguish to
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to twist into a grotesque form
noun
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physical or mental anguish
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the practice of torturing a person
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a cause of mental agony or worry
Usage
The adjective torturous is sometimes confused with tortuous. One speaks of a torturous experience, i.e. one that involves pain or suffering, but of a tortuous road, i.e. one that winds or twists
Synonym Usage
See torment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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pretorturenoun
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self-torturenoun
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torturernoun
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overtortureverb (used with object)
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self-torturedadjective
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self-torturingadjective
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torturableadjective
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torturedadjective
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torturesomeadjective
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torturingadjective
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untorturedadjective
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torturedlyadverb
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torturinglyadverb
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torturouslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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torturesimple
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torturessimple
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have torturedperfect
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has torturedperfect
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am torturingprogressive
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are torturingprogressive
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is torturingprogressive
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have been torturingperfect progressive
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has been torturingperfect progressive
Past
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torturedsimple
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had torturedperfect
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was torturingprogressive
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were torturingprogressive
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had been torturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of torture
First recorded in 1530–40, torture is from the Late Latin word tortūra a twisting, torment, torture. See tort, -ure
Explanation
To torture is to torment or purposefully put someone through intense pain or agony. The word torture comes from the word for "harm." It can refer to the deliberate infliction of physical or mental suffering in order to punish or obtain information; the act of distorting something, so it means something it wasn't intended to mean; or extreme mental distress or unbearable physical pain not necessarily inflicted by another.
Vocabulary lists containing torture
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Twists and Turns: Tor
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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:
Citizenship and Immigration Services — as a cause for hope, while others saw it as prolonged mental torture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
And yet, this villain’s fiery domain, where imps torture souls nearby, is also recognizably Dionysian.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
But in Rogers’ case, Trump opted not to torture him over his history of negative comments.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
"No person should be returned to a place where they face persecution, torture or serious threats to their dignity and safety," said Oliver Barker-Vormawor, senior partner at Ghanaian law firm Merton & Everett LLP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Speed, he thought, was the secret behind the enigma of why men would torture themselves by placing these raw quivering bivalves on their tongues.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
This involves choosing a patron saint, and Michael speaks with the wild enthusiasm of a Marvel movie fanboy about his likely decision, St. George, who endures various grisly tortures but remains steadfast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Yet, Paltrow makes it look like easy lifting, as if dodging the universe’s cerebral tortures were as low-effort as the #BoyfriendBreakfasts she’s taken to posting on Instagram.
From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2025
“Have the merciless persecutions and unutterable tortures of the dark ages not yet opened their eyes and enlarged their heart for the alleviation of their fellow men’s woes?”
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2025
I left them, so that’s what tortures me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
That’s one of the subtle tortures of this place.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
Eve resists scream-queen clichés, but Gemma’s boringly typical tortured backstory is as flat as her wan chemistry with Nick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
It was chaotic, it was courageous, and it immediately entered the ranks of England’s greatest victories in the country’s tortured 76-year history of competing at the World Cup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Decades of tortured relations between Iran, its Middle Eastern neighbours and the US have left behind a toxic legacy, characterised by deep suspicion and an almost total lack of trust.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Ten years ago, Peter Cipriano, a graduate student at Baruch College, wrote his master’s thesis about one of New York City’s most tortured civic failings: its inability to fix Penn Station.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Artists may sometimes be tortured by the burden of their genius, but they can never be truly creative under the thrall of psychosis.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
It can be a year away, and it’s right here torturing me, which is I think why I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Her prose is exact and exquisite, as when describing Clare: “The soft white face, the bright hair, the disturbing scarlet mouth, the dreaming eyes, the caressing smile, the whole torturing loveliness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
She became a vegetarian, attacked the Chinese government for "torturing" bears, and spent hundreds of thousands on a programme to sterilise Romanian stray dogs.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
“I do not believe that the U.S government is torturing or using these devices on its own citizens,” Zaid explained on the podcast.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
Jonas braced himself and entered the memory which was torturing The Giver.
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.
