How to Use excruciating in a Sentence

excruciating

adjective
  • I have an excruciating headache.
  • They described their vacation in excruciating detail.
  • In one long, excruciating take, Rhaenyra gets up to take the baby to the queen.
    Omar L. Gallaga, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2022
  • The pain is excruciating when the knee pops out of place.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2021
  • The trials of Jones and Trone in the 1990s were just excruciating.
    Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2024
  • By the time my alarm went off, the sheer act of getting out of bed was all-around excruciating.
    John Thompson, Men's Health, 1 Aug. 2022
  • The loss of a child is one of the most excruciating pains a parent can endure.
    Matt Bruce, ajc, 14 Jan. 2022
  • The pain was excruciating, ripping through me like a knife from my pelvic wall all the way up to my rib cage.
    Leah Campbell, Glamour, 23 Apr. 2019
  • This was twice as excruciating: bottom of the 18th inning and still no runs for the home team.
    Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2022
  • For one thing, no one liked the movie much (the reviews were excruciating).
    Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 26 June 2024
  • From the back of my neck to my lower back was just excruciating pain.
    Mark Johnson, jsonline.com, 18 Mar. 2021
  • My body aches, my pain is excruciating, and my bones are in agony.
    Connie Rowland, Woman's Day, 2 Aug. 2022
  • To be sure, this has been the most excruciating run-up to the Olympics of the career of Shiffrin, who’s 26 years old and competing in her third Games.
    Rachel Bachman, WSJ, 9 Feb. 2022
  • The hurdles people must clear to get out of town when the system grinds to a halt can be excruciating.
    Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 2 July 2023
  • In his pain index, 'one' measures as the mildest sting and 'four' as the most excruciating.
    Trisha Gopal and Isabella Bartolucci, CNN, 8 Aug. 2020
  • The Tigers are winless in their first six games and their latest loss may have been the most excruciating.
    oregonlive, 12 Oct. 2021
  • McKinley had tears in his eyes on the cart and was both distraught and in excruciating pain.
    cleveland, 20 Dec. 2021
  • Because of that, the pain in her knees can be excruciating.
    Edward Lee, baltimoresun.com, 20 Mar. 2021
  • In my opinion, trying to figure out what to cook can be the most excruciating part of the meal prep process.
    Olivia Harrison, refinery29.com, 19 Oct. 2020
  • For more than a year, life for many sriracha lovers has been an excruciating lesson in bland.
    Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Where the PvP fails is in the lack of variety in game modes and the excruciating wait times between rounds and matches.
    Louie Villalobos, USA TODAY, 19 Oct. 2019
  • Even a slight chill still meant hours of excruciating pain.
    Jeff Horwitz, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Waiting to hear your name called at the NBA Draft can be excruciating.
    Charlotte Wilder, SI.com, 22 June 2018
  • One bite from a bullet ant will leave you with 24 hours of excruciating pain.
    Virginia Hammerle, Dallas News, 23 Apr. 2023
  • An excruciating pulsing headache on one or both sides of the head is only one part of the package.
    Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, 23 Oct. 2018
  • The heat was excruciating, and for Updike, so was the outcome.
    Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, 25 July 2021
  • Bieber threw 12 shutout innings in his first two starts and struck out 20, but excruciating pain in both starts left him with no choice.
    Jason Lloyd, The Athletic, 29 Dec. 2024
  • For younger fans like Gordon Sheach, 32, the wait has been just as excruciating.
    New York Times, 14 June 2021
  • In late 2019, sudden, excruciating pain in my pelvis sent me to the emergency room.
    Katrina Martin, Health, 4 Mar. 2025
  • But like, walking stairs was excruciating, pre-surgery.
    Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 9 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'excruciating.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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