torture
Americannoun
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tortures
plural
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the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.
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a method of inflicting such pain.
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Often tortures. the pain or suffering caused or undergone.
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extreme anguish of body or mind; agony.
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a cause of severe pain or anguish.
verb (used with object)
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tortures,
present (3rd person singular)
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tortured,
past participle, past
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torturing
present participle
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to subject to torture.
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to afflict with severe pain of body or mind.
My back is torturing me.
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to force or extort by torture.
We'll torture the truth from his lips!
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to twist, force, or bring into some unnatural position or form.
trees tortured by storms.
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to distort or pervert (language, meaning, etc.).
verb
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to cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etc
to torture prisoners
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to give mental anguish to
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to twist into a grotesque form
noun
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physical or mental anguish
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the practice of torturing a person
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a cause of mental agony or worry
Usage
The adjective torturous is sometimes confused with tortuous. One speaks of a torturous experience, i.e. one that involves pain or suffering, but of a tortuous road, i.e. one that winds or twists
Synonym Usage
See torment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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pretorturenoun
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self-torturenoun
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torturernoun
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overtortureverb (used with object)
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self-torturedadjective
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self-torturingadjective
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torturableadjective
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torturedadjective
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torturesomeadjective
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torturingadjective
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untorturedadjective
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torturedlyadverb
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torturinglyadverb
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torturouslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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torturesimple
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torturessimple
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have torturedperfect
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has torturedperfect
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am torturingprogressive
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are torturingprogressive
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is torturingprogressive
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have been torturingperfect progressive
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has been torturingperfect progressive
Past
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torturedsimple
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had torturedperfect
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was torturingprogressive
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were torturingprogressive
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had been torturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of torture
First recorded in 1530–40, torture is from the Late Latin word tortūra a twisting, torment, torture. See tort, -ure
Explanation
To torture is to torment or purposefully put someone through intense pain or agony. The word torture comes from the word for "harm." It can refer to the deliberate infliction of physical or mental suffering in order to punish or obtain information; the act of distorting something, so it means something it wasn't intended to mean; or extreme mental distress or unbearable physical pain not necessarily inflicted by another.
Vocabulary lists containing torture
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Twists and Turns: Tor
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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:
But in Rogers’ case, Trump opted not to torture him over his history of negative comments.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
No doubt, a shameless data miner can torture the data long enough to get it to support any conclusion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, had warned in 2024 that prison conditions could violate the U.N. convention against torture and called for greater Red Cross access.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
When a US judge ruled that Benjamin, a Nigerian green card holder married to an American citizen, was entitled to torture protections, he was looking forward to reuniting with his family.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
The next day at school, it seemed like the clock had stopped and the day was stuck in a never-ending torture of math and social studies and gym.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Open is often regarded as the most challenging of the four majors, and there isn’t a host that tortures the world’s best players quite like Shinnecock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Yet, Paltrow makes it look like easy lifting, as if dodging the universe’s cerebral tortures were as low-effort as the #BoyfriendBreakfasts she’s taken to posting on Instagram.
From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2025
“Have the merciless persecutions and unutterable tortures of the dark ages not yet opened their eyes and enlarged their heart for the alleviation of their fellow men’s woes?”
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2025
I left them, so that’s what tortures me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
That’s one of the subtle tortures of this place.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
But that is the way much of Jordan’s narration reads, a mixture of traumatized testimony, tortured confession and furious screed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Underneath an artist’s preoccupations with sex, society, religion, etc.,” the narrator insists, “there is a soul tortured beyond endurance by the lack of tenderness in the world.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Decades of tortured relations between Iran, its Middle Eastern neighbours and the US have left behind a toxic legacy, characterised by deep suspicion and an almost total lack of trust.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Louis, in comparison, is kinda busted — gloomy, tortured, unable to fully embrace the everlasting banquet Lestat has laid out for him.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
For two hours his mind roiled with turbulent thoughts before he fell into a restless, tortured sleep.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
That’s what has allowed them to pile up points against Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 phenom who, until the Finals, spent the playoffs torturing opposing offenses across the NBA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
India's batters are torturing England in this series.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2025
While the professionals scratch their heads, we can see that his acting out is only a reaction to whatever thing or condition or cosmological prank is torturing him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2024
“I do not believe that the U.S government is torturing or using these devices on its own citizens,” Zaid explained on the podcast.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
I didn’t have long to keep torturing myself with questions.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
