tormentor

noun

tȯr-ˈmen-tər How to pronounce tormentor (audio)
variants also tormenter
Definition of tormentornext
as in tease
a person who causes repeated emotional pain, distress, or annoyance to another shocked by the news that his chief tormentor from elementary school had written a book about the dangers of bullying

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 tormentor So Jacob is now related to his tormentor. — Breanne L. Heldman, PEOPLE, 22 June 2026 Crucial events morphed into massive set pieces, like Louis hunting down Claudia’s killers by setting their theater on fire, exploding the motorcycles of the vampires who fled the inferno, and eventually bursting out of a manhole to behead Claudia’s main tormenter. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 2 June 2026 Pedro Báez joined the Los Angeles pen in 2014 and assumed the role of Goldschmidt’s primary tormentor. — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 4 May 2026 Brendan Carr, tormenter in chief of the broadcast networks, made his way around the room, as did Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corporation. — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 26 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tormentor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tormentor
  1. tease
  2. torturer
  3. harasser
  4. attacker
  5. persecutor
Noun
  • A number of Reeves’ social media teases have included glimpses of snow.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
  • What begins as misjudgment, the official synopsis teases, spirals through human conflict into tragedy on a cosmic scale.
    — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2026
Definition of tease
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.
    — EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026
  • 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
Definition of torturer
Noun
  • There is just no defending that behavior, and the harasser/scumbag should walk the plank, so to speak.
    — Geoff Clark OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026
  • Still, the star did not name her harassers.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 22 May 2026
Definition of harasser
Noun
  • Angel City attacker Jun Endo went down with a non-contact injury in the 33rd minute and was assisted off the pitch visibly shaken.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2026
  • Johan Manzambi Exciting attacker Johan Manzambi has played a starring role for a Switzerland side that reached the quarter-final stage for the first time since 1954, before being eliminated by Argentina.
    — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 12 July 2026
Definition of attacker
Noun
  • 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, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of persecutor

Browse Nearby Words

tormenting
tormentor
tormentors
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tormentor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tormentor. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on tormentor

Nglish: Translation of tormentor for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All