excruciating

adjective

ex·​cru·​ci·​at·​ing ik-ˈskrü-shē-ˌā-tiŋ 

1

: causing great pain or anguish : agonizing

the nation's most excruciating dilemma

—W. H. Ferry

2

: very intense : extreme

excruciating pain

excruciatingly

ik-ˈskrü-shē-ˌā-tiŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• wrenching
• torturous
• agonizing
• intense
• torturing

Examples of excruciating in a Sentence

I have an excruciating headache.

an excruciating moment of embarrassment

They described their vacation in excruciating detail.

Recent Examples on the Web

But a moment later, despite the excruciating pain and the loss of blood, her eyes brightened. —Literary Hub, 8 Aug. 2025

Disputes often take an excruciating 45 to 90 days to resolve and can cause consumers to hate their credit card or debit card bank, at least temporarily. —Jeff Kauflin, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025

Christina Applegate was admitted to the hospital over the weekend after suffering excruciating pain while on a European vacation. —Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2025

Even with her high pain tolerance, changing the needle was excruciating. —Jordan Greene, People.com, 28 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for excruciating

• accelerating
• accentuating
• accommodating
• accumulating
• adjudicating
• administrating
• affiliating
• agglutinating
• alienating
• alleviating
• amalgamating
• ameliorating

Kids Definition

excruciating

adjective

ex·​cru·​ci·​at·​ing

ik-ˈskrü-shē-ˌāt-iŋ

1

: causing great mental or physical pain : agonizing

excruciating torture

an excruciating decision to leave

2

: very severe

excruciating pain

excruciatingly

-iŋ-lē

adverb

Etymology

derived from Latin excruciatus, past participle of excruciare "to torture," from ex- "out of, from" and cruciare "to torment, crucify," from cruc-, crux "cross" — related to cross, crucial, crucify