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
Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 28 Mar. 2025
Real fans, however, know that Grey’s Anatomy is actually an emotional torture device overseen by the brilliant and sadistic Shonda Rhimes, an agonizing exercise in grief and loss delivered in weekly installments.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2025
Charna Flam, People.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Khalaf is also writing a TV series entitled The Syrian Doctor about a medic who arrested and tortured in 2012 for treating pro-democracy protestors and then flees to France with his three-year-old daughter.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Noun
The single location is presented like a claustrophobic torture chamber, but much of the movie looks and feels like any other family’s crappy afternoon.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 28 Mar. 2025
Real fans, however, know that Grey’s Anatomy is actually an emotional torture device overseen by the brilliant and sadistic Shonda Rhimes, an agonizing exercise in grief and loss delivered in weekly installments.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2025
Verb
On Wednesday, April 9, Jordan Love, 29, who previously fled Michigan after allegedly abusing her dog, was charged with second-degree killing/torturing animals and abandoning/cruelty to four to 10 animals.
—Charna Flam, People.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Khalaf is also writing a TV series entitled The Syrian Doctor about a medic who arrested and tortured in 2012 for treating pro-democracy protestors and then flees to France with his three-year-old daughter.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torture
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torture
Noun
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After blowing a 17-point lead in Saturday’s home loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Heat ran into the same nightmare on Monday.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
11 Mar. 2025
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And Susie Cullen’s production design turns typical markers of a fine-dining environment — windowless bathroom stalls; orange mood lighting; a stoic staff — into elements of a garish nightmare.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
The Hollywood Reporter,
10 Mar. 2025
Noun
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His experiences at Fuchu Prison left him with frostbite, screaming in agony, after being exposed to sub-zero temperatures during 20 days in solitary confinement.—
Daniel Taylor,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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What began as a blissful afternoon in the Florida sun ended in agony when a Jeep Wrangler suddenly barreled over a man lying on the beach, police said.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Puerto Rico is frequently plagued by power outages, with the most recent island-wide event on New Year's Eve taking days to resolve.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
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Now a depth arm in the organization who was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City for a spot start Wednesday, Miller’s first MLB outing of 2025 mirrored the struggles that plagued him over the rest of 2024.—
Houston Mitchell,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The references to nineteenth-century American literary heroes and ideals may be distorted, but the ideals find an authentic embodiment in these calmly rapturous images of nature.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
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What once kept us safe can now distort intimacy, create misunderstandings and erode trust.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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For civilians, the unrelenting misery of the last 18 months has just got a lot worse – especially as no aid has entered Gaza for six weeks.—
Tim Lister and Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
12 Apr. 2025
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Life was good, especially after the last three seasons of misery, when games at this time of year were meaningless aside from their impact on the draft lottery.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 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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Sold to the public as increasing transparency, the legislation has been utilized to persecute Georgia’s opposition and arrest dissidents with impunity.—
Anastasiya Zavyalova,
The Conversation,
28 Mar. 2025
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Again, none of these Beautiful People ever thought of assisting Americans who were being persecuted by the Deep State these last few years before Jan. 20.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Paul invited them in, but that simple act led to years of torment.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Mar. 2025
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For those who have seen family members battle the torment of cancer, the memories may last a lifetime.—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torture. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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