PERSECUTOR Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

persecutor

noun

as in torturer

a person who causes repeated emotional pain, distress, or annoyance to another years later his schoolyard persecutor would end up being one of his low-paid employees

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in nuisance

one who is obnoxiously annoying on this flight my airline-appointed persecutor was a chattering nitwit who could not stop talking about himself

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of persecutor Third-graders would learn about the Road to Damascus, which tells the story of Paul’s transformation from an early persecutor of Christians into a follower. —

Heather Hollingsworth, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026 Third graders would learn about the Road to Damascus, which tells the story of Paul's transformation from an early persecutor of Christians into a follower. —

CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026 Third graders would learn about the Road to Damascus, which tells the story of Paul's transformation from an early persecutor of Christians into a follower. —

ABC News, 7 Apr. 2026 Paul was a former persecutor of Christians who became a missionary and was later beheaded in Rome. —

Lori A Bashian , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 23 Nov. 2025 Amish are part of the wider Anabaptist movement, which puts heavy emphasis on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, containing some of his most radical and counter-cultural sayings — to love enemies, live simply, bless persecutors, turn the other cheek and to endure sufferings joyfully. —

Dave Smith, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2025 The grounds once housed the elaborate palace of first century Roman Emperor Domitian, a persecutor of Christians. —

Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025 That is a nasty process which involves digging up Ambar’s still-fresh corpse, then subjecting it to various grisly indignities night after night as retribution gets visited upon our heroine’s persecutors. —

Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Aug. 2025 Using it to describe this week’s attack on Huwara – or other similar attacks in Israel or Palestine – effectively puts Israel in the place of the Jews’ historic persecutors. —

Joshua Shanes, The Conversation, 6 Mar. 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutor

Noun

Aaron escapes his torturers, first by rooting himself in the town’s only movie theater open to Black people, and then by lying about his age and enlisting in the Navy at 16.

— Meredith Maran, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
Incredibly, one of Schiller's torturers, Jorge Delgado - the Sun Gym member who had first told Lugo about Schiller and his millions - ended up helping the federal government make their case.

— Troy Roberts, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026