1
as in nightmare
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
it's torture for me to see you so unhappy
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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
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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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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
Renae Gregoire, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
Two blind spots torture physicists: the birth of the universe and the center of a black hole.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 27 May 2025
Abe Beame, Rolling Stone, 7 June 2025
Imprisoned, tortured and threatened with a death sentence, he was eventually freed thanks to pressure from a consortium of internationally influential musicians (Igor Stravinsky, György Ligeti and Herbert von Karajan among them) and returned to West Berlin.
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Noun
My back hurt from that sad excuse for a chair (seriously, who designs dining chairs to feel like medieval torture devices?).
—Renae Gregoire, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
Two blind spots torture physicists: the birth of the universe and the center of a black hole.
—Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 27 May 2025
Verb
Wayne has circled New York, a city with a sacred and tortured place in his heart, the entirety of his career.
—Abe Beame, Rolling Stone, 7 June 2025
Imprisoned, tortured and threatened with a death sentence, he was eventually freed thanks to pressure from a consortium of internationally influential musicians (Igor Stravinsky, György Ligeti and Herbert von Karajan among them) and returned to West Berlin.
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torture
Noun
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But highly damaged Mark, whose upbringing was evidently a nightmare of abuse, has found salvation, or at least escape: He’s ordained himself a servant of the Lord, holding improvisational services in the prison chapel to a paltry flock.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
20 June 2025
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And then suddenly that nightmare had a new dimension: Someone had grabbed her other daughter, Tameeka.—
Dateline NBC,
NBC news,
18 June 2025
Noun
-
But playing with an already-strained right calf, the Oshkosh, Wis., native stepped awkwardly towards the basket and crumbled to the court in agony when his leg appeared to pop.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
24 June 2025
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Finding alternatives that would end this agony would be one of American science’s most important achievements.—
Rachel Fobar,
Vox,
14 May 2025
Verb
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American aviation has been plagued with several tragedies this year, starting with the fatal midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5432 and a military Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., in which 67 people died.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
16 June 2025
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Orders at last year's Farnborough were notably weaker, with supply chain challenges continuing to plague the industry.—
Jenni Reid,Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
16 June 2025
Verb
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Yet the message from some insiders is that the market in continental Europe is also distorted and will not necessarily prove much cheaper.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
12 June 2025
-
California After images of unrest comes the political spin, distorting the reality on the ground in L.A. June 11, 2025 Levitsky said authoritarians look for crises.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2025
Noun
-
Humidity is adding to the misery Oppressive humidity is accompanying the heat wave, according to Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
25 June 2025
-
Cuomo, age 67 and one of the last powerful men to succumb to the #MeToo movement, is an unlikely standard-bearer for a Democratic Party desperate to move on from the miseries of the past decade, but New York politics isn’t famous for its uncomplicated options.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
17 June 2025
Noun
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To add insult to injury, distress at work has been linked to a decrease in innovative work behavior, meaning all that destructive stress ultimately may yield less inspiring work.—
Drew Gerber,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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The Tennessee law, like Idaho’s, centers on medical care for transgender youth that addresses gender dysphoria, or feelings of distress when a person’s body or presentation doesn’t match their gender identity.—
Nicole Blanchard,
Idaho Statesman,
19 June 2025
Verb
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With his penchant for menacing models, black-out contact lenses and jutting shoulders, Owens is also a forever torchbearer for different kinds of beauty, and a safe haven for people who feel persecuted for being outside the norm.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
25 June 2025
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The regimes that persecute religious minorities are also the ones that oppress women, LGBTQ people, journalists, and dissidents.—
Nuri Kino,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 June 2025
Noun
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This need is the source of her personal torment and also her power.—
Kerry Howley,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2025
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The real torments have been so glazed over, many poems resemble old paintings lost beneath a dozen layers of varnish.—
William Logan,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torture. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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