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 That was all going to set up a potential breakout 2025 season — before Worthy collided with tight end Travis Kelce and tore his labrum in the season opener. — Jesse Newell, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026 At least 22 people were killed and many injured when a fire tore through a crowded wedding in a Kinshasa neighborhood hall, as panicked guests jammed narrow corridors to escape. — Saleh Mwanamilongo, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026 Rescuers have been working for days to find any survivors from the catastrophic flash floods which tore through the country last week, leaving at least 1,000 dead and thousands more missing. — Kosh Raj Koirala, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2026 Ivan Datsiv, an IT worker, was in his apartment in Kyiv’s Podil district when a Russian drone tore through the floor on Tuesday, charring the ceilings and walls of his apartment and completely destroying the one next door. — ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026 One of them, Austin, tore his right ACL late in training camp. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 31 Aug. 2026 In the wake of violent storms that tore through northwest Indiana, my family was without power for 13 days. — Lori Latham, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026 On Monday, the Ross Fire — now one of the largest wildfires on record in North Texas — tore through the historic camp. — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Aug. 2026 Hurricane Milton, the second of which, tore all the Teflon panels off the Trop’s roof flooding the inside of the facility. — Barry M. Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tore

Verb

In fact, Israel built its future wagering that the Palestinians violently displaced and expelled in the Nakba would eventually move on, assimilate, forget the depravity that ripped them from their land.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
Actor Michael Rapaport ripped Macklemore as a talentless clown following the rapper’s pro-Palestinian set at MetLife Stadium.

— Staff, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of ripped

Verb

Hours later, as the couple sat in a car outside a west Fort Worth bowling alley, an unknown man yanked open the passenger door.

— Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Sep. 2026
In one clip, a pair of people sit in a small box attached to a wire as they're yanked onto a platform across a river in Nuwakot, Nepal.

— Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of yanked

Verb

In New York City, Special Agents Tom Armas and John Buckley -- who were at the New York Field Office at 7 World Trade Center for the annual UN General Assembly briefing -- raced into the North Tower.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026
The disclosure is expected to give the public a better understanding of how the city responded following the collapse of the World Trade Center as officials raced to restabilize Lower Manhattan and reopen the area.

— Gloria Pazmino, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of raced

Verb

Oliver grabbed a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to seven in just four games after four against Leeds United the previous week.

— Rob Tanner, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
At 4 o’clock on a Thursday morning, Salomon Olea grabbed a packed lunch of a ham-and- cheese torta and a white peach, kissed his wife goodbye and left the home in Escondido he’s owned for nearly 30 years.

— Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of grabbed

Verb

In June 2021, a camera helped locate a murderer, Joseph Jean, 56, who sped off after stabbing a 38-year-old woman on a sidewalk in Fort Lauderdale, the agency said.

— Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026
The research was slow at first, but more recent advances in technology — including artificial intelligence — have sped things up.

— Pien Huang, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of sped

Verb

The sibling drama, meanwhile, rather fades out of view amid these loftier goings-on; the film’s narrative begins to feel devised by the old parlor game Consequences, repeatedly wrenched in erratic new directions.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026
Miriam had given her a heavy coat and wrenched open the silver door.

— Rachel Yoder, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of wrenched

Verb

The disbelief at billowing black smoke from a gash in the Pentagon and collapsing skyscrapers of steel, the dread over what attacks might yet come, the hope that people might be pulled from the rubble alive.

— Ann Gerhart, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2026
In his absence, the documentarian created a digital avatar of the Tesla CEO and used statements pulled from decades’ worth of the entrepreneur’s interviews and public appearances.

— Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026