1
as in painful
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally
relatives had to make the torturous decision to disconnect the patient's life-support system
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wrenching
intensely or unbearably painful
the post-infection treatment for rabies was as notoriously torturous as the disease itself
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 torturous
The ensuing months were torturous.
—
Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
Texas State pitcher Madison Azua simultaneously groaned and laughed while recounting the near-torturous exercises the program put her and teammates through.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 3 Feb. 2026
September 22 Lucas Museum opens After a long, semi-torturous process, George Lucas’s grand vision for a public museum containing an impressive collection of paintings, drawings, and film memorabilia will finally come to fruition.
—Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 22 Dec. 2025
During this increasingly torturous adjustment period, Millie learns Nina spent some time in a psychiatric facility years earlier after allegedly leaving Cece to drown in a bathtub and taking enough pills to kill herself.
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 7 Feb. 2026
Texas State pitcher Madison Azua simultaneously groaned and laughed while recounting the near-torturous exercises the program put her and teammates through.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 3 Feb. 2026
September 22 Lucas Museum opens After a long, semi-torturous process, George Lucas’s grand vision for a public museum containing an impressive collection of paintings, drawings, and film memorabilia will finally come to fruition.
—Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 22 Dec. 2025
During this increasingly torturous adjustment period, Millie learns Nina spent some time in a psychiatric facility years earlier after allegedly leaving Cece to drown in a bathtub and taking enough pills to kill herself.
—Megan McCluskey, Time, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torturous
Adjective
-
Four years later, at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Gabrielle Daleman could only bury her face in her hands after the Canadian’s disappointing free skate, her painful reaction beamed to a global audience.—
Dave Skretta,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
-
As painful as this pain deep in the heart is, the healing has already begun with all the outpouring of love, prayers, and support.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
-
What's going on is absolutely heart-wrenching.—
Kiki Intarasuwan,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Prosecutors say the defendant failed to take into account his girlfriend’s inexperience in mountain climbing as well as the harsh winter conditions.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Bathroom Fixtures There are no harsh or abrasive chemicals involved in steam cleaning bathroom fixtures.—
Rae Ford,
Martha Stewart,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The world watched as the heavy favorite to triumph at the Milan Cortina Games sat through several agonizing minutes of dejection.—
Dave Skretta,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
-
For the Iranian diaspora, this has meant an agonizing wait for news from family members, with many left feeling helpless in the face of such unthinkable atrocities.—
Emily Chan,
Vogue,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
His lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, sought to show that his past had formed him, but there was a cruel irony in the reference.—
Gaby Wood,
Vogue,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Many of these schools are impossibly competitive – impossibly and fantastically cruel.—
Anastasia Tsioulcas,
NPR,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The teenager in agony after a crushed leg, or the 80 year old down the hall dying an excruciating death from cancer?—
Parker Crutchfield,
STAT,
17 Feb. 2026
-
The descriptions of slavery are excruciating.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The employee, a mother of two teen girls, warned about the filters and said the pressure on teen girls is intense.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
-
During periods of intense rainfall, the risk of flooding increases, particularly in low-lying and flood-prone areas.—
Southern California Weather Report,
Daily News,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Torturous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torturous. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
