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 of excruciating

• 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

Biff shouts at him at the show’s excruciating climax) sways between light and dark, between the road and the deadly shoulder, advancing through his last hours on earth as if through the stations of the cross. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2026

Coming off an excruciating 119-loss season, the Rockies cleaned house in the front office and promised a new, exciting era of baseball. —Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2026

Obviously, the best part was watching Colby drop with a hard fall, rolling over in excruciating pain, and then giving Probst a thumbs up sign… because thumbs up signs are never not hilarious. —Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Apr. 2026

Sometimes the journey to diagnosis is so emotionally excruciating that people call off the effort for a long period of time or even altogether. —Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026

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