Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

torn

American  
[tawrn, tohrn] / tɔrn, toʊrn /

verb

  1. past participle of tear.

torn British  
/ tɔːn /

verb

  1. the past participle of tear 1

  2. slang an unexpected event or circumstance has upset one's plans

"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

adjective

  1. split or cut

  2. divided or undecided, as in preference

    he was torn between staying and leaving
"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

Other Word Forms

  • untorn adjective

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.

If I had said “Sick ’em!” he would have torn out of those elders like a cyclone.

From Literature

Underfoot, the rubber flooring is torn and strewn with trash.

From Barron's

Air filters needed to be replaced, the carpet torn out, toys thrown away and wood chips exchanged for rocks.

From Los Angeles Times

“If I hadn’t torn my ACL ... Tom wouldn’t have been there. He wouldn’t have been able to save my leg.”

From Los Angeles Times

Instead, Longhurst said he went to the bathroom and took off his torn bloodstained clothes.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American HeritageŸ Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.