tormentor

noun

tor·​men·​tor tȯr-ˈmen-tər  ˈtȯr-ˌmen- 

variants or less commonly tormenter

1

: one that torments

2

: a fixed curtain or flat on each side of a theater stage that prevents the audience from seeing into the wings

Synonyms

• baiter
• harasser
• heckler
• mocker
• needler
• persecutor
• quiz
• quizzer
• ridiculer
• taunter
• tease
• teaser
• torturer

Examples of tormentor in a Sentence

shocked by the news that his chief tormentor from elementary school had written a book about the dangers of bullying

Recent Examples on the Web

And so our hero crosses paths with his future patron and personal tormentor Harrison Lee Van Buren, who would be a monstrous caricature of capitalism’s worst perversities if not for the softness that Guy Pearce so gingerly laces into his sadism. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024

When temperatures soar into the 90s, and humidity turns clothing into the tormentor of skin, there is a blissful escape for many inland city dwellers: the public pool. —Eve Andrews, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2024

That Yasmin doesn’t look like her tormentor is the point. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 9 Aug. 2024

The two were married five years later and Ike quickly became her biggest tormentor. —Shannon Carlin, TIME, 15 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1