1
as in nightmare
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
it's torture for me to see you so unhappy
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in agony
a state of great suffering of body or mind
spent an afternoon in torture waiting to hear whether her brother had made it home safely
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to
the neighbor's dog constantly tortures our cat, barking at him and chasing him down the street
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to distort
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition
tortured her naturally straight hair into curls
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of torture
Rabih Alameddine
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
Others are suspected of having died due to outright torture.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025
Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2025
Several women were tortured and gang raped.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Noun
The violence, the torture, the killings.
—Rabih Alameddine
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
Others are suspected of having died due to outright torture.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025
Verb
Emmett was just 14 when he was kidnapped from his great-uncle’s house by two White men who later admitted to beating and torturing the teen before shooting him in the head and throwing his body into the Tallahatchie River, weighed down by a 75-pound cotton gin fan.
—Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2025
Several women were tortured and gang raped.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torture
Noun
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Instead, the interview was a PR nightmare that forced Andrew to step back from his public royal duties.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
5 Sep. 2025
-
At 6 feet and blessed with great athletic ability, Moore was a matchup nightmare.—
Doug Feinberg,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Hank, having already experienced life-changing failure, is also able to absorb beatings that would destroy most people, endure the agony, and leap back into action.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
28 Aug. 2025
-
The buddy story ended in agony when it was revealed that Edwards was on the list and complicit in the ambush plot.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The Tigers have been plagued by poor starting pitching, a thin bullpen and an offense that hasn’t played with the same spark since the All-Star break.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Aligning With San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance was designed to expand access, but the system has long been plagued by complexity.—
Chelsea Davis,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In a world where images are so numerous and so difficult to understand, truth itself can be in danger, threatened by false interpretations and distorted, misleading half-truths.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Executives may tone down accomplishments to avoid internal friction, which can distort messaging.—
Adrian Dearnell,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Befriended by the aged proprietor of a now defunct Greek coast restaurant, the hen becomes an unwitting witness of human misery – greed, migrant trafficking, revenge upon revenge.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Task begins by setting up the parallels between Tom and Robbie, two flawed men trying to keep their heads above the water of their own miseries, cutting back and forth between their routines to emphasize their similar ideologies and spontaneities.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Another tool will notify parents if the system detects their teen is experiencing acute distress.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Sep. 2025
-
What To Know Footage clearly showed how Sczczerek had grabbed the hat handed to the boy and squirreled it away in his wife's purse, despite the obvious distress of the child.—
Chloe Mayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The safest course would be to force out the Americans, persecute the Sunnis, and then let the Shiite factions bicker forever.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
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His deportation to El Salvador violated a 2019 court order that protected him from being deported to his home country because of concerns that he’d be persecuted by violent gangs.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Waterhouse said that screw caps generally make more sense for a wine like rosé, which isn’t intended to age, while cork is the standard for aging wines.—
Dee-Ann Durbin,
Fortune,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Harrison is also a fan of the hair screw tool that’s designed to pick up long strands of hair and loose pet fur with ease.—
Yelena Moroz Alpert,
Architectural Digest,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torture. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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