TORE Synonyms: 151 Similar and Opposite Words

tore

verb

Definition of tore

past tense of tear

as in ripped

to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it angrily tore the letter to shreds

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in yanked

to separate or remove by forceful pulling tore the book from his hand

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

reattached

as in raced

to proceed or move quickly she tore out of the room as soon as the phone started to ring

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 tore For months after a devastating fire tore through seven Hong Kong apartment towers last year, the complex was sealed off to residents. — New York Times, 20 July 2026 Instead, this guardrail tore through the Volvo and cut Hannah’s body in half. — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 Seven people were rescued and more than 30 displaced after a fire tore through a New Haven apartment building on Friday, officials said. — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026 Though it’s not shown in The Odyssey, Achilles’ son Neoptolemus tore Hector’s baby son Astyanax from his mother’s arms and threw him from the city walls. — Eliana Dockterman, Time, 17 July 2026 Hurst tore a bicep while doing a stunt on the show, as first reported by TMZ. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 16 July 2026 In December 2021, the Marshall Fire erupted and tore through Colorado communities leading to large-scale evacuations. — Ignacio Calderon, USA Today, 16 July 2026 The impact tore a roughly 174-foot gash in the hull — flooding the engine rooms, cutting power and leaving the ship unable to maneuver. — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026 In the early hours of New Year's Day, a fire tore through a bar in the Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100. — ABC News, 13 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tore

Verb

As soon as the duo walked out the door, all script pages that featured the Kardashian scene were ripped away and thrown in a trash can.

— Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 21 July 2026
Krinks has seen more security cameras installed around public parks and benches ripped out of the ground in downtown Nashville.

— Marissa J. Lang, NPR, 21 July 2026

Definition of ripped

Verb

Then we’re yanked into Louis’s hazy POV, from which Armand is reading another one of his apology letters.

— Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 20 July 2026
However, their anti-tank and anti-air systems failed to make a decisive difference after the Shah of Iran suddenly yanked out Iran’s decisive support from under them and cut a deal with Baghdad, crushing Kurdish morale in the process.

— Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Definition of yanked

Verb

Kevitt lost his right leg in a 2013 hit-and-run collision in Griffith Park while riding his bicycle after the car sped off and dragged him down a freeway onramp.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026
Police say Wright sped up and drove toward them, striking the man so hard that he was sent into the air before landing on the roadway.

— Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026

Definition of sped

Verb

On a moonless night, that Alpha team crept silently from the statue’s belly and wrenched open the gates of Troy, decisively ending the war in their favor.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 15 July 2026
Yet the men are wrenched apart, and the culprit seems to be nothing less than a hostile world, one marked by material scarcity and insurmountable alienation.

— Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

Definition of wrenched

Verb

One rainy afternoon in August, Jean Booth scurried up the stairs of a nondescript Thai restaurant tucked into a strip mall off the highway, shook out her blue, shoulder-length hair and took out her phone.

— Juliet Linderman, Fortune, 16 July 2026
The plane stopped, passengers scurried to the terminal and airport employees climbed up on the wings trying to keep the airliner from blowing away.

— Dan Kelly July 8, Kansas City Star, 8 July 2026

Definition of scurried

Verb

He was pulled after giving up back-to-back hits with one out in the fourth to put runners on the corners.

— Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 25 July 2026
The Thunder successfully pulled this off with both Joe and Wiggins, inking both to below-market contracts two summers ago.

— Fred Katz, New York Times, 24 July 2026