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torment

[ verb tawr-ment, tawr-ment; noun tawr-ment ]
/ verb tɔrˈmɛnt, ˈtɔr mɛnt; noun ˈtɔr mɛnt /
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See synonyms for: torment / tormented / tormenting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

noun

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Origin of torment

First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) Middle English, from Old French, from Latin tormentum “rope, catapult, torture,” from unattested torkw-ment- (see torque, -ment); (verb) Middle English tormenten, from Old French tormenter, derivative of torment (compare Late Latin tormentāre)

synonym study for torment

1. 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 WORDS FROM torment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to torment

pain, torture, agony, affliction, suffering, misery, persecution, anguish, bedevil, annoy, nag, tease, vex, bother, pester, irritate, hurt, harass, plague, smite

Example sentences from the Web for torment

British Dictionary definitions for torment

torment

verb (tɔːˈmɛnt) (tr)

to afflict with great pain, suffering, or anguish; torture
to tease or pester in an annoying waystop tormenting the dog

noun (ˈtɔːmɛnt)

physical or mental pain
a source of pain, worry, annoyance, etc
archaic an instrument of torture
archaic the infliction of torture

Derived forms of torment

tormented, adjectivetormentedly, adverbtormenting, adjective, nountormentingly, adverb

Word Origin for torment

C13: from Old French, from Latin tormentum, from torquēre
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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