self-torment

American  

[self-tawr-ment, self-] / ˈsɛlfˈtɔr mɛnt, ˌsɛlf- /

noun

1. an act or instance of tormenting oneself, as with worry or guilt.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-tormenting
  adjective
• self-tormented
  adjective
• self-tormentingly
  adverb
• self-tormentor
  noun

Etymology

Origin of self-torment

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Was then not all sorrow in time, all self-torment and fear in time?

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

He was doing what he could to undo that harm, and he was at that high pitch of self-torment when the lash of another was unbearable.

From Skyrider by Fischer, Anton Otto

"I am suffering--you may suffer too" was the frightful thought by which, in his self-torment, he released himself from the duty of loving his neighbour.

From The Hour Will Come: Volumes I and II A Tale of an Alpine Cloister by Hillern, Wilhelmine von

But Nature itself, apart from and unfilled by the Divine Light, is a self-torment, a mere Want, a Desire, a Hunger.

From Dialogues on the Supersensual Life by Böhme, Jakob

The new image of himself that he saw reflected in the astonished eyes of his Catholic companions worked in him a number of fresh forms of self-torment.

From Helbeck of Bannisdale — Volume II by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.