torturous

adjective

ˈtȯrch-rəs How to pronounce torturous (audio)
Definition of torturousnext
1
as in painful
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally relatives had to make the torturous decision to disconnect the patient's life-support system

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wrenching
intensely or unbearably painful the post-infection treatment for rabies was as notoriously torturous as the disease itself

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 torturous San Francisco has found many odd, obscure and torturous ways to lose this season. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 26 Aug. 2026 From 1873 to 1991, the island served as Costa Rica’s principal penitentiary, where some of the country’s worst criminals were sent to serve often short and torturous sentences. — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 24 July 2026 Hellraiser introduced audiences to the mythology of the Lament Configuration puzzle box, the home to a dimensional portal inhabited by the ritualistically torturous beings, the Cenobites, and their leader, the iconic Pinhead. — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 21 July 2026 As part of her job, Angèle needs to daub makeup on the models’ feet, blistered from the torturous heels they’re forced to wear. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for torturous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torturous
  1. painful
  2. wrenching
  3. harsh
  4. agonizing
  5. cruel
  6. excruciating
  7. intense
Adjective
  • His path crosses with Naoko, a Japanese tourist carrying the weight of a painful past, and Ruby, a young child searching for his parents.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Rising financial strains on American workers are forcing them to make painful trade-offs, such as skipping medical care, to make ends meet, new research shows.
    — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of painful
Adjective
  • Richard Ables guided families through one of life’s most wrenching rituals at the historic Hall Brothers Funeral Home.
    — Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2026
  • After a quiet episode focused on Hal Jordan’s passing, Lanterns’s penultimate chapter deepens the mystery in surprising and wrenching ways.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of wrenching
Adjective
  • And now those still left in the battered city along Ukraine's southeastern front face death from hunger or disease as another harsh winter looms, with no agreement in sight for even a humanitarian evacuation.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Despite low winds and little rain, harsh surf continues to wreak havoc along Southern California's coastal communities.
    — Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of harsh
Adjective
  • Many of those wins have been agonizing for the Bears to endure like when TCU upset a top-10 Baylor squad in 2021 or when the Horned Frogs scored a walk-off field goal the very next season in Waco to keep their undefeated season alive.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026
  • In her book, Dawood writes about an investigator telling her not to go down the agonizing road of hindsight.
    — Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of agonizing
Adjective
  • In response to legislation to end the cruelty once and for all, the Daily News once again trotted out its old and tired defense of this cruel, deadly and outdated industry.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Policing cringe is the cruelest métier of the internet—the origin of harassment campaigns and platforming of contempt.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of cruel
Adjective
  • Cringe may be excruciating, but post-cringe would be pure horror.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Then the day came, two weeks before a drop-dead deadline on a final draft of a novel, when the pain was yelp-out-loud excruciating in any position other than lying flat on the floor, or standing.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of excruciating
Adjective
  • Pike committed the crime over an intense romantic jealousy of Slemmer, who allegedly attempted to steal her boyfriend’s attention.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Carnegie Hall seats well over 3,000 people, but this intense, no-frills performance film gives life to the old saying about feeling alone in a crowd.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of intense

Browse Nearby Words

torturing
torturous
Tory
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Cite this Entry

“Torturous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torturous. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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