as in tormenter
a person who causes repeated emotional pain, distress, or annoyance to another
a sadistic torturer of men he regarded as weak, the drillmaster really had it in for one recruit
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 torturer
Each regime, from the Pahlavi dynasty to the Islamic Republic, claimed to uphold human rights and castigated its predecessors as torturers, only to ratchet up the incarceration of political opponents.
—
Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torturer
Noun
-
The teases of matches with Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes had fans excited for another in-ring run.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
-
Perhaps the most tantalizing tease of all?—
EW.com,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The tormentor of a quarterback, whose two touchdown runs were eerily similar to those which fashioned Jeanty a household name and top 10 pick, makes the Bulls a larger blip on Florida’s radar than expected.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Brown-Trickey was eventually suspended for standing up to her tormentors, while her white aggressors went unpunished.—
Time,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The documentary tells the true story of a teenage couple relentlessly bullied via text by an anonymous harasser.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
That is a nasty process which involves digging up Ambar’s still-fresh corpse, then subjecting it to various grisly indignities night after night as retribution gets visited upon our heroine’s persecutors.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
6 Aug. 2025
-
Using it to describe this week’s attack on Huwara – or other similar attacks in Israel or Palestine – effectively puts Israel in the place of the Jews’ historic persecutors.—
Joshua Shanes,
The Conversation,
6 Mar. 2023
Noun
-
The attackers opened fire at people waiting at a bus depot, police said, before boarding a bus to continue the attack.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
8 Sep. 2025
-
But the attacker re-aggravated his hamstring at the club’s training hub in Rush Green.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torturer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torturer. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share