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
Relevance
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
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 persecutors
Shakespeare humanizes the Elizabethan stage stereotype of the villainous Jew by giving Shylock ample reason for wanting to get back at his Christian persecutors.
—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
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
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutors
Noun
-
Red is immediately abducted, cut open in an ambulance, and injected with pain-magnifying drugs by his torturers, while Liz accidentally murders the mysterious man surveilling her next door.
-
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.
Noun
-
Besides being nuisances, many types carry diseases including West Nile virus, encephalitis, and canine heartworm.
-
If the nuisances continue at Albany Care, the city is seeking a court order to shut the facility down, separate from the state action.
Noun
-
That their tormentors were not untouchable.
-
If the tormenters keep it up, grackles do eventually move.
Noun
-
In addition to its ability to regulate moisture, hempcrete is resistant to pests and fire.
-
Once pests are removed, there may be more necessary patching to prevent water seepage.
Noun
-
Still, the star did not name her harassers.
-
Most harassers do not harass others in front of someone else.
Noun
-
From everyday disruptions to other inconveniences and (perhaps) annoyances, things pop up.
-
These scams are not random annoyances.
Noun
-
They are all stuffed into selections from the adults-only section of a Spirit Halloween store and made to perform amateur strip teases for their fellow Islanders — all strapped to heart-rate monitors — to see who can raise whose heart rate the most.
-
Rhys teases of the finale’s contents.
Noun
-
But most of the city’s residents refused to surrender to their attackers, instead choosing to take their own lives inside the city walls.
-
In practice, this means understanding which tools may be used against you, how audience perception can be manipulated, what sequence of actions attackers typically follow, and which methods are deployed at different stages of a campaign.
Cite this Entry
“Persecutors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutors. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
