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:
She fights her inner torment as much as any exterior force.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 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
They added that since the fatal crash, they "have lived every day since then in torment — without peace, without answers, and without accountability".
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
Such is the nature of their American torment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
Millions of people around the world had fallen in love with this musical, but I squirmed in my seat, trying to rise above the inexplicable torment I felt every time the melody repeated.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
France feels relentlessness, and there’s been none of the drama that occasionally torments this team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 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
Mr. Turk’s life was a dark mirror of his country’s torments, and his improbable survival was testimony to his will to endure.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
There are days when the questions are too hard and he torments us by dropping the apple peel into the wastebasket.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Like that film, the new one is an interesting if decidedly uneven work about pop-cultural obsession as an outlet for the more personal and tormented explorations of the protagonist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 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
And the officials who tormented Landor, he concluded, did not provide that consent, so the lawsuit has to fail.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
Inside the courtroom, Mark Nowak said he was "tormented" by thoughts of his son's death.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
I waited in the chimney, shivering, still tormented by the departure scene on the dock.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Brontë was fascinated by silent crypts and tormenting passions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Fofana and Allan Saint-Maximin, on in place of Edouard and Said, continued the tormenting of PFC as they combined to add two goals in stoppage time.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 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
Mary Dunbar had accused them of bewitching and tormenting her.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2025
I dashed down the porch steps and caught up with her, only to find she was back to tormenting the tavern’s sweet mule, Lucky Pete.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
