Synonyms of torturous

torturous

adjective

ˈtȯrch-rəs 

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

• painful
• harsh
• cruel
• agonizing
• excruciating
• horrible
• terrible
• harrowing
• bitter
• hurtful
• severe
• unacceptable
• awful
• grievous
• unbearable
• tormenting
• galling
• dreadful
• intolerable
• unendurable
• miserable
• bad
• afflicting
• heartrending
• insufferable
• intense
• appalling
• ghastly
• vile
• dire
• insupportable
• extreme
• acute
• wretched
• nasty
• unsupportable
• rotten
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sweet
• gratifying
• pleasing
• tolerable
• bearable
• endurable
• sustainable
• acceptable
• supportable
• survivable
• reasonable
• allowable
• livable
• sufferable

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

• wrenching
• agonizing
• excruciating
• torturing
• intense
• harrowing
• raging
• violent
• tormenting
• extreme
• racking
• exquisite
• acute
• biting
• fierce
• stabbing
• vehement
• tearing
• penetrating
• piercing
• sharp
• shooting
• stinging
• cutting
• tingling
• smarting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of torturous

Good luck—these tiny, torturous bugs seem to be hard to dispose of, but there is a way to lure them in and disable them. — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 16 June 2026

Shinnecock Hills is full of triangles — sneaky but massive, and always torturous triangles. — Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 16 June 2026

International human rights leaders have condemned nitrogen hypoxia as experimental, violent and potentially torturous. — Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 11 June 2026

This Stanley Cup final is twisty, torturous and absolutely exhilarating. — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 10 June 2026