TORTURED Synonyms: 179 Similar and Opposite Words

tortured 1 of 2

adjective

as in tormented

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tortured

2 of 2

verb

past tense of torture

as in persecuted

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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as in distorted

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

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 tortured

Adjective

Earlier works tinging with an obscure kind of darkness that hinted at tortured psychological states have all but disappeared from her work and living quarters in lieu of an elegant old world charm. — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 29 Sep. 2026 But this leads to secrets revealed, lies told and tortured confrontations, not just with others but most intensely with himself. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026 Wuthering Heights In Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte presents a world of conflicts, frictions between families, passions, and attachments—especially those of Catherine Earnshaw and the tortured Heathcliff—across an untamed landscape. — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2026 Eve resists scream-queen clichés, but Gemma’s boringly typical tortured backstory is as flat as her wan chemistry with Nick. — Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026 In Kris’ case, that obsession was with Camp Miasma, its tortured villain Little Death, and the oversexualized victims who ended up on the other end of Little Death’s spear, terrible sequel after terrible sequel. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 18 Aug. 2026 The committee is tasked with analyzing and reviewing problematic conference papers and enhancing quality screening of articles prior to publication to detect integrity issues such as plagiarism and tortured phrases. — IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2026 This discovery stunned de Man’s colleagues and students, and was particularly traumatic for Derrida, who attempted a tortured but ultimately unconvincing reckoning with what his friend had written as a young man. — Literary Hub, 30 July 2026 Bernstine brings just enough light to her tortured cop, while McNairy brings just enough anguish to his good-hearted caretaker. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 27 July 2026

Verb

But unlike other Floridians of Cuban descent — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Valdes ended up defending Cuba’s socialist revolutionaries and officials who have killed, jailed, tortured, and censored numerous political enemies. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026 Prosecutors allege Maduro ordered political opponents detained and tortured, received regular updates on interrogations and instructed officials to intensify abuse. — Alice Gainer, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026 Now, the defining image of the death penalty in 2026 is a woman strapped to a gurney, in unbearable agony, being tortured by prison officials tasked with killing her but unable to do so. — Maya Foa, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026 Intelligence officers transported him to a camp controlled by Colombia’s FARC guerrilla organization, where he was interrogated and tortured over approximately two days, according to the charges. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026 Some veterans say recruiters deceived them and Haitian authorities tortured them; their families call them scapegoats. — Astrid Suárez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 Alas, Hersh was to miss the flight because he was still being held hostage, starving, tortured, and surviving on that date in terrifying confinement. — Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Time, 6 Oct. 2026 Hannie was captured, tortured, and murdered by the Nazis in the final months of the war, but never snitched on her sisters. — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026 To succeed, the Sparrows would need to sell the story, even if tortured. — Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tortured

Adjective

Others were placed under house arrest, harassed or subject to extensive surveillance, or had their passports confiscated, according to prior NPR reporting and the findings of the United Nations and rights groups.

— Emily Feng, NPR, 17 May 2026
For years, Christian clergy who live and work in Jerusalem have reported being frequently spat on, harassed and even physically attacked by Israeli extremists.

— Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 1 May 2026

Definition of harassed

Verb

Those governments provide assurances that people won’t be persecuted or tortured, federal attorneys said.

— Lindsay Whitehurst, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Also, some immigration cases involve people seeking asylum because they are being persecuted by a foreign government and releasing a person’s full name could be considered sensitive or even dangerous.

— Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of persecuted

Verb

Lazzarini’s nine artworks on display, curated by John Ravenal, are convoluted and contorted, distorted into impossible shapes that challenge perception.

— Kim Córdova, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Ramirez’s two classmates, an Asian woman and a white man, remained in the edited version, but they were changed to appear thinner, and their facial features were noticeably distorted.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of distorted

Adjective

Livia’s sister-in-law invokes the poem when Livia learns, to her surprise, that her manipulative, abusive mother had been a frustrated musician.

— Sam Worley, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
They were thoroughly dominated by Chicago in a 23-12 loss on Sunday, a performance that left fans increasingly frustrated and the Jets insisting the franchise's past failures weren't seeping into the locker room.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of frustrated

Verb

Fashion’s relationship with art is a conundrum that’s plagued the minds of some of its greatest auteurs.

— José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 3 Oct. 2026
Taking the Long Way was never going to be country enough for some, but that was something the Chicks were always plagued with, even in their early busking days on the streets of Dallas.

— Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of plagued

Verb

On a map, Newfoundland is a vast, asymmetrical island, cloven by bays and inlets, semi-detached to appendages of land deformed by ancient glaciers scraping over it, leaving glacial striations, grooves and gouges on its granite face.

— Paul Theroux, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026
In other words, two objects are considered topologically identical if they can be deformed into one another without tearing holes in them or gluing them together at any point.

— Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of deformed

Adjective

Each application is pre-tested and integrated into the platform to reduce deployment time and improve reliability for end users.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 31 July 2026
But summer back in New York, amid the fug of the city, requires a return to a tested and true formula.

— Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 22 June 2025

Definition of tested

Verb

Love contains the seeds of its own destruction—the cruelty and self-absorption that turns the afflicted against one another, and themselves.

— Merve Emre, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026
While the epicenter was located in Nantou County in central Taiwan, serious damage afflicted residents across the island as roads buckled, bridges collapsed and landslides destroyed everything in their path.

— Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of afflicted

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“Tortured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tortured. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of tortured

adjective

verb

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