1
as in nightmare
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
it's torture for me to see you so unhappy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in agony
a state of great suffering of body or mind
spent an afternoon in torture waiting to hear whether her brother had made it home safely
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to plague
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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2
as in to distort
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
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Recent Examples of torture
Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 30 Mar. 2025
But filmmaker Feras Fayyad, who endured torture in Assad’s prisons, never gave up the certainty that one day the dictator would be ousted.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 25 Mar. 2025
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2025
Jesperson seized them from Moore’s hands, hung them on a clothesline and tortured them, leaving their bodies in a heap in the back garden.
—Jp Mangalindan, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Noun
She was later arrested, charged with murder, torture, child endangerment and aggravated mayhem, and ordered to be held without bail.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 30 Mar. 2025
But filmmaker Feras Fayyad, who endured torture in Assad’s prisons, never gave up the certainty that one day the dictator would be ousted.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 25 Mar. 2025
Verb
Maybe the two of them are held prisoner down there for a while, being tortured by Milchick (or whomever is brought in to replace him after two separate catastrophes have happened under his watch).
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2025
Jesperson seized them from Moore’s hands, hung them on a clothesline and tortured them, leaving their bodies in a heap in the back garden.
—Jp Mangalindan, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torture
Noun
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Some important breaking news: Britain’s long ninja-nal nightmare is finally over.—
Jeffrey Blehar,
National Review,
28 Mar. 2025
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At his best, Hopkins is a mismatch nightmare at the four who can slash and finish at the rim with physicality, make plays for his teammates and defend with toughness.—
Sam Vecenie,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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According to the outlet, the agony caused Cornett to remove her name outside her dorm room, temporarily relocate to emergency housing, switch to online classes and continue to spend most of her time in her room.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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With espresso especially, the right grinder can be the difference between ecstasy, agony, and simple defeat.—
Matthew Korfhage,
Wired News,
1 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The community support comes at an apartment complex that both residents say is plagued with drugs and violence.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
4 Apr. 2025
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The firm works heavily with the community surrounding the market and carries a mission to identify and establish alternatives to the pitfalls plaguing fashion’s current business model including overproduction and greenwashing.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Rosenworcel also dismissed a challenge to a Fox station license alleging that Fox willfully distorted news with false reports of fraud in the 2020 election that Trump lost.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2025
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But the only thing that is wild here is how badly the science supporting fluoridation is being distorted or ignored.—
Megha Satyanarayana,
Scientific American,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Ultimately, what is likely driving the protests is that these Palestinians are exhausted from the sheer misery Hamas has brought upon them.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2025
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Despite on-ice misery, the Flyers have packed at least 18,000 fans for every game during their last two homestands.—
Hailey Salvian,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
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At the Santa Monica test location after the rains, the level of beryllium — a metal that is toxic to fish and corals and causes respiratory distress in humans — was more than 10 times the maximum limit allowed.—
Corinne Purtill,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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The result: Some doctors and hospitals have held back on treatments, waiting for the fetal heartbeat to stop or for patients to wind up in undeniable distress.—
Kavitha Surana,
ProPublica,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The Roman authorities persecuted Christians harshly, subjecting them to torture and deaths even more gruesome than crucifixion.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2025
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The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and says he's being politically persecuted.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
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And there is arguably something no less unseemly about making a show about yet-unresolved torment and grief that corrals one’s family into an extended act of performance.—
Naomi Fry,
The New Yorker,
15 Mar. 2025
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The restoration team, led by longtime Dye disciple Tim Liddy, literally dug up the past, hand-excavating original contours, stripping and reshaping greens, and bringing back Dye’s signature elements—from punishing bunkers with steep grass faces to greens that tease and torment in equal measure.—
David Hochman,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torture. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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