1
as in torturers
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nuisances
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
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Recent Examples of persecutors
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
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
Dave Smith, Fortune, 30 Oct. 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 persecutors
Noun
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For decades, generals, coup-plotters, and torturers walked free under the shield of amnesty laws passed after the country’s 21-year dictatorship.—
Julia Vargas Jones,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
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Each regime, from the Pahlavi dynasty to the Islamic Republic, claimed to uphold human rights and castigated its predecessors as torturers, only to ratchet up the incarceration of political opponents.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Yellow fever, Zika and more There are over 200 types of mosquitoes in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but most are just nuisances.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
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Decades ago, marshes were considered nuisances, soggy flats to be drained, dried, and made waterproof with liberal coatings of asphalt.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The mind could wander briefly about the Giants riding a two-game winning streak into a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Eagles, equipped to knock off their tormentors who suddenly look vulnerable.—
Dan Duggan,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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There appears to be no limit to his sensitivity or his determination to humble his tormentors.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This will reduce the number of snails and other pests that overwinter nearby and feed on your plants in spring.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
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Efforts to trap and humanely euthanize pests comes with expenses estimated at over $100 million annually.—
Michael Nied,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The Project Runway star shared teases of herself wearing green paint and prosthetics.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Nov. 2025
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Season one may only be six episodes, but it’s padded out with meandering subplots, vague teases for a second-season mystery, and one overly long and slow-motion-dependent scene at a nightclub.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But that conspiracy tends to manifest in the form of universal contemporary annoyances.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
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One of my long-standing annoyances with macOS was the lack of control over the menu bar.—
Edward Mendelson,
PC Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Arsenal head coach did not specify which muscle his marquee signing injured, but was not optimistic as the Sweden international was added to the list of attackers who are not available for Tuesday.—
Art de Roché,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
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Two months later, more than 100 people were massacred by attackers in Yelwata, a largely Christian community in Benue state, also in the north-central, according to Amnesty International.—
Nimi Princewill,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Persecutors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutors. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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