1
as in persecuted
to cause persistent suffering to
the neighbor's dog constantly tortures our cat, barking at him and chasing him down the street
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in distorted
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition
tortured her naturally straight hair into curls
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in tormented
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tortured
Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
Co-starring Andrew Scott as Rodgers and Margaret Qualley as a semi-fictionalized admirer of the closeted Hart, Blue Moon promises to be a wrenching look at a complex and tortured songwriter, with stunning performances to boot.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 2 Sep. 2025
From the Enterprise, everyone watches as the Jikaru finds a peaceful end to her tortured existence.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
Everyone was surprised when these two got together in 2023 — the tortured poet and the football jock.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
For Tegna, the Nexstar purchase would end a rather tortured corporate journey over the last few years.
—Howard Homonoff, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Close will play Maud Oldcastle in Maud, which is about an old killer with a tortured past.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2025
Emily Temple
september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
Several women were tortured and gang raped.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
The movie will mark Nemes’ French-language debut and will star Gilles Lellouche as the French Resistance hero who is captured and tortured by Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (Lars Eidinger).
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
White men kidnapped, tortured, shot, and dumped him in a river for whistling at a white shopkeeper.
—Debbie Elliott, NPR, 28 Aug. 2025
But there's another version of the story that says three of them were killed but Noor was kept alive and was tortured and assaulted by Gestapo soldiers overnight before being executed the next morning.
—Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
After suffering a very narrow and heartbreaking defeat in Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers were tortured throughout last season.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
The white men tortured and killed Till in a barn in a neighboring county, and his body was later found in the Tallahatchie River.
—Graham Lee Brewer, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025
Several such cases prompted a separate lawsuit before a different judge about whether the government, in accordance with the Convention Against Torture, had properly determined that the migrants would not be tortured after their removal.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
Swift making herself into a tortured poet trying to outdo a pretentious, typewriter-wielding ex.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
Co-starring Andrew Scott as Rodgers and Margaret Qualley as a semi-fictionalized admirer of the closeted Hart, Blue Moon promises to be a wrenching look at a complex and tortured songwriter, with stunning performances to boot.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 2 Sep. 2025
From the Enterprise, everyone watches as the Jikaru finds a peaceful end to her tortured existence.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
Everyone was surprised when these two got together in 2023 — the tortured poet and the football jock.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
For Tegna, the Nexstar purchase would end a rather tortured corporate journey over the last few years.
—Howard Homonoff, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Close will play Maud Oldcastle in Maud, which is about an old killer with a tortured past.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Emily Brontë appears in every way indifferent to the need for love and companionship that tortured the lives of her sisters.
—Emily Temple
september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
Several women were tortured and gang raped.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
The movie will mark Nemes’ French-language debut and will star Gilles Lellouche as the French Resistance hero who is captured and tortured by Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (Lars Eidinger).
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
White men kidnapped, tortured, shot, and dumped him in a river for whistling at a white shopkeeper.
—Debbie Elliott, NPR, 28 Aug. 2025
But there's another version of the story that says three of them were killed but Noor was kept alive and was tortured and assaulted by Gestapo soldiers overnight before being executed the next morning.
—Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
After suffering a very narrow and heartbreaking defeat in Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers were tortured throughout last season.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
The white men tortured and killed Till in a barn in a neighboring county, and his body was later found in the Tallahatchie River.
—Graham Lee Brewer, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025
Several such cases prompted a separate lawsuit before a different judge about whether the government, in accordance with the Convention Against Torture, had properly determined that the migrants would not be tortured after their removal.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tortured
Verb
-
His deportation to El Salvador violated a 2019 court order that protected him from being deported to his home country because of concerns that he’d be persecuted by violent gangs.—
Marlene Lenthang,
NBC news,
25 Aug. 2025
-
Criminals are to be persecuted.—
Tommy Trenchard,
NPR,
23 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
When the condition strikes, that signal is distorted, causing muscles to move involuntarily or get stuck in an abnormal position.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
4 Sep. 2025
-
In a world where images are so numerous and so difficult to understand, truth itself can be in danger, threatened by false interpretations and distorted, misleading half-truths.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This particular finding presents a more nuanced framing of gun violence and challenges dominant narratives about Chicago’s violence that have plagued the city’s reputation for decades.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The study also pinpointed a bacterium that plagued these colossal ice age creatures.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
As a result, his vocals have a kind of stately yet starry-eyed quality, giving structure to these deformed, cosmic beats from the internet abyss.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Shortly after their release in early 2023, some Ryzen 7000-series X3D chips were becoming physically deformed, developing bulges on the bottom that could permanently damage the CPU and bend the pins in the CPU socket.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Some writers who criticized Taylor Swift reported that they and their family members had been threatened, harassed, and doxed.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
But Thomas was afflicted by health troubles on the 26-56 Nets last year.—
Alex Kirschenbaum,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The World Health Organization states that in 2021 alone, nearly 57 million people were afflicted with some form of dementia.—
Forbes.com,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Yet part of the force of it is that Michôd has not contorted Christy Martin’s life into some false arc; what was going on beneath her triumph is portrayed with a desperate and idiosyncratic honesty.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
And with creativity and innovation so discouraged, an employee who thrives with an entrepreneurial spirit might feel stifled or frustrated.—
Julia Sullivan,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
-
In 2021, at a meeting in Olive Branch, Hiatt faced frustrated farmers.—
Molly Parker,
ProPublica,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tortured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tortured. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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