torturous
adjective
tor·tur·ous
ˈtȯr-chə-rəs 
ˈtȯrch-
1
a
: very unpleasant or painful
a torturous day
torturous self-doubts
b
: causing torture
torturous inquisitions
2
: painfully difficult or slow
the torturous course of the negotiations
torturously
adverb
Examples of torturous in a Sentence
relatives had to make the torturous decision to disconnect the patient's life-support system
the post-infection treatment for rabies was as notoriously torturous as the disease itself
Recent Examples on the Web
The longtime actor and multi-faceted filmmaker crafts an unhinged, go-for-broke performance as a legendary quarterback putting his potential heir apparent (Tyriq Withers) through a psychologically torturous training camp.
—
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
Season 2 reveals the main characters were locked up in a torturous adult rehabilitation center, but have now been allowed to re-enroll at Godolkin University.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025
When so many of today’s complaints—the loneliness of young people, the torturous dating market, the loosening of community bonds—come down to interpersonal alienation, the idea of American culture returning to a primal, highly evolved signal of kinship and compatibility is tantalizing.
—Franklin Schneider, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
Within the film’s compact running time, writer-director Ben Hania traces the fraught and torturous hours of January 29, 2024, when Palestine Red Crescent volunteers in the West Bank tried to calm a terrified 6-year-old girl and get an ambulance to her in Gaza.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torturous
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Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
Season 2 reveals the main characters were locked up in a torturous adult rehabilitation center, but have now been allowed to re-enroll at Godolkin University.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025
When so many of today’s complaints—the loneliness of young people, the torturous dating market, the loosening of community bonds—come down to interpersonal alienation, the idea of American culture returning to a primal, highly evolved signal of kinship and compatibility is tantalizing.
—Franklin Schneider, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
Within the film’s compact running time, writer-director Ben Hania traces the fraught and torturous hours of January 29, 2024, when Palestine Red Crescent volunteers in the West Bank tried to calm a terrified 6-year-old girl and get an ambulance to her in Gaza.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Cite this Entry
“Torturous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torturous. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
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