torture
Americannoun
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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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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:
No doubt, a shameless data miner can torture the data long enough to get it to support any conclusion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 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
On Friday, Congolese Justice Minister Guillaume Andali said his country is seeking accountability for alleged breaches of conventions covering genocide prevention, racial discrimination, women's rights and torture.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
“For decades, the United States has allowed individuals and families who are fleeing persecution, torture and death to ask for protection at U.S. borders.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
At about hour six, Spurge leaned over to him and whispered, “How long does this torture go on?”
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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
Marie-Laure tortures herself with daydreams of feasts laid out on long tables: platters of sliced pork loin, roasted apples, banana flambe, pineapples with whipped cream.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
For a country with a tortured history of developing players to lead the attack, Balogun had emerged as the weapon America was waiting for.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
He was the emotionally tortured and volatile chef who left behind a rising career in Michelin-starred restaurants to return to Chicago, his hometown, to run his recently deceased brother’s floundering sandwich joint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
All the while, a tortured diplomatic process, involving multiple actors, is playing out in the background.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Clearly Ms. Footer conceives of Bradley as something of a tortured Romantic; what’s unclear—in fact, what is unknowable—is whether Bradley did himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Artists may sometimes be tortured by the burden of their genius, but they can never be truly creative under the thrall of psychosis.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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
It can be a year away, and it’s right here torturing me, which is I think why I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Then again, Egg’s royal command stops Aerion’s guards from torturing Ser Duncan after the hedge knight beats up the prince for breaking a fair maiden’s finger.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
She became a vegetarian, attacked the Chinese government for "torturing" bears, and spent hundreds of thousands on a programme to sterilise Romanian stray dogs.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
She holds out her hands, “My precious, are they torturing you?”
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
