excruciate

verb

ik-ˈskrü-shē-ˌāt How to pronounce excruciate (audio)
Definition of excruciatenext
as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to she has long been excruciated by an undiagnosed pain in her knee

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of excruciate For example, a person with a hernia who infrequently experiences minor discomfort likely wouldn't be as much of a priority as someone with a hernia that causes excruciating pain every day. — Perry Vandell, azcentral, 25 Apr. 2020 Sometimes their grandchildren are excruciated and appalled by what’s meant to be lightly funny. — Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2020 Exposed, incapacitated, and in excruciating pain, laboring moms rely on other people—doctors, nurses, midwives, doulas, and especially their partners—for help and support. — Minhae Shim Roth, Glamour, 1 Apr. 2020 One poor woman is left in excruciating pain for 24 hours, and Meredith’s ex-boyfriend Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) accuses the relative of a patient of being a human trafficker. — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 20 Mar. 2020 See All Example Sentences for excruciate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for excruciate
  1. plague
  2. persecute
  3. afflict
  4. torture
  5. torment
  6. besiege
Verb
  • Safety and crowding concerns will continue to plague the uptown jail when Jail North reopens to alleviate conditions, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden warned late Friday.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Jackson broke his foot last training camp when a teammate stepped on it during practice, and that injury plagued him all of 2025 and required an offseason procedure that kept him sidelined during OTAs and minicamp.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of plague
Verb
  • More generally, the movie, directed by Elegance Bratton, is about the historical context of this murder, the conscious and organized effort by white Southern citizens and officials to intimidate, persecute, and subjugate Black people.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Many see Trump as the only president to defend Nigerian Christians; his administration claims they are being persecuted by Islamist groups.
    — Harriet Marsden, TheWeek, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of persecute
Verb
  • Over 600,000 women a year in America are afflicted with postpartum depression in America, research shows.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 1 Sep. 2026
  • It’s typically diagnosed in adults — only about five births each year are afflicted by the condition nationwide.
    — Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of afflict
Verb
  • The former beauty queen’s family claim that she was tortured by the suspects over dowry demands, reported the BBC.
    — Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 3 Sep. 2026
  • After 33 years spent in Italy, Mariano Guerra, an Italian doctor, returns to Argentina to testify at the trial against the former military officers who abducted, tortured and enslaved him during the military dictatorship.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of torture
Verb
  • Leite is one week removed from giving Angel Reese and Howard fits in Atlanta, while Astier has tormented the Fever duo of Clark and Aliyah Boston.
    — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Nosferatu In 2024 Depp appeared in Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu as Ellen Hutter, a young woman tormented and nearly possessed by the film’s titular vampire.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of torment
Verb
  • There has been a spate of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, and the village of Qusra has been besieged by Israeli settlers for weeks.
    — F. Brinley Bruton, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026
  • One of them, Muammar Ibrahim, reported for Al Jazeera’s Arabic network while the city was besieged.
    — Mat Nashed, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of besiege

Browse Nearby Words

excreting
excruciate
excruciated
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Cite this Entry

“Excruciate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excruciate. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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