tormentors

noun

variants also tormenters
plural of tormentor
as in torturers
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 tormentors That their tormentors were not untouchable. — Nazanin Boniadi, Time, 11 Mar. 2026 If the tormenters keep it up, grackles do eventually move. — Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 18 Feb. 2026 And her tormentors are all abruptly, painfully departing the scene or, at the very least, becoming ensnared in one humiliation after another. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 16 Jan. 2026 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 There appears to be no limit to his sensitivity or his determination to humble his tormentors. — David Remnick, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2025 But can the Yankees really stare down their tormentors and finally best Houston in a playoff format? — Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025 Jeni Jones said the fire emotionally scarred her daughter, who had to attend the same school as her tormenters. — Robert Anglen, AZCentral.com, 1 July 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tormentors
  1. torturers
  2. teases
  3. harassers
  4. persecutors
  5. attackers
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 torturers
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 teases
Noun
  • Still, the star did not name her harassers.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 22 May 2026
  • Most harassers do not harass others in front of someone else.
    — Briana Mascaro, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
Definition of harassers
Noun
  • 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
Definition of persecutors
Noun
  • Websites under the control of the attackers display a CAPTCHA that requires the visitor to copy a jumble of text and paste it into the terminal.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 16 July 2026
  • Mbappe wasn’t the worst of France’s attackers and never stopped trying to turn the tide, but his quality deserted him.
    — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 16 July 2026
Definition of attackers

Browse Nearby Words

tormentor
tormentors
torments
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tormentors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tormentors. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on tormentors

Nglish: Translation of tormentors 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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

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

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

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

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 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
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
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All