torment

[ verb tawr-ment, tawr-ment; noun tawr-ment ]

/ verb tɔrˈmɛnt, ˈtɔr mɛnt; noun ˈtɔr mɛnt /

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verb (used with object)

to afflict with great bodily or mental suffering; pain: to be tormented with violent headaches.

to worry or annoy excessively: to torment one with questions.

to throw into commotion; stir up; disturb.

noun

a state of great bodily or mental suffering; agony; misery.

something that causes great bodily or mental pain or suffering.

a source of much trouble, worry, or annoyance.

an instrument of torture, as the rack or the thumbscrew.

the infliction of torture by means of such an instrument or the torture so inflicted.

Nearby words

toric, toric lens, tories, torii, torino, torment, tormentil, tormentor, tormé, torn, torn between, be

Origin of torment

1250–1300; (noun) Middle English < Old French < Latin tormentum rope, catapult, torture < *torkw-ment- (see torque, -ment); (v.) Middle English tormenten < Old French tormenter, derivative of torment (compare Late Latin tormentāre)

SYNONYMS FOR torment

1 harry, hector, vex, distress, agonize. T orment , rack , torture suggest causing great physical or mental pain, suffering, or harassment. T o torment is to afflict or harass as by incessant repetition of vexations or annoyances: to be tormented by doubts. T o 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. T o torture is to afflict with acute and more or less protracted suffering: to torture one by keeping one in suspense.

2 plague, pester, tease, provoke, needle, trouble, fret.

4 torture, distress, anguish.

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ANTONYMS FOR torment

1 please.

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Related forms

tor·ment·ed·ly, adverbtor·ment·ing·ly, adverbtor·ment·ing·ness, nounun·tor·ment·ed, adjective

un·tor·ment·ing, adjectiveun·tor·ment·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tormenting

I called to her, but she slipped away with a tormenting smile at my helpless hands, and I followed her with some impatience.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Banville may tarnish his hero a bit, particularly by tormenting him with alcohol.
Can Pulp Win the Booker?|Allen Barra|September 7, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The coach of the William McKinley High School Cheerios is a ruthless bully, tormenting both students and teachers alike.
TV’s Best and Worst Teachers|Jaimie Etkin|September 4, 2011|DAILY BEAST
These icons haunted my fitful rest, tantalizing and tormenting as I waited in vain for the Sirenes.
The Extinction Parade: An Original Zombie Story by Max Brooks|Max Brooks|January 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST

I am a dawn riser, more prone to tormenting the early shift with headline changes than the late-nighters.
The Daily Beast Turns 2!|Tina Brown|October 5, 2010|DAILY BEAST
How fatal then, how tormenting, how intolerable, must her reverse of fortune be!
The Adventures of Roderick Random|Tobias Smollett
This looks very like a device for tormenting the old man of eighty-five, and revenging themselves for their previous defeat.
Sir Christopher Wren|Lucy Phillimore
That night a tormenting devil with the face of the other woman kept me awake.
The Log-Cabin Lady, An Anonymous Autobiography|Unknown
But this time, being prepared, he was not alarmed; nay, he seemed to take leasure in the success of his plan of tormenting.
The Mark Of Cain|Andrew Lang
The people crawled into the shadow of the houses to escape the heat and the tormenting thirst it caused.
Simon Eichelkatz; The Patriarch|Ulrich Frank

British Dictionary definitions for tormenting

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

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

torment

verb (used with object)

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of torment

SYNONYMS FOR torment

ANTONYMS FOR torment

Related forms

Examples from the Web for tormenting

British Dictionary definitions for tormenting

torment

verb (tɔːˈmɛnt) (tr)

noun (ˈtɔːmɛnt)

Derived Forms

Word Origin for torment