1
as in agony
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
the released soldiers gave interviews trying to explain to civilians the torment that prisoners of war experience
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in distress
a state of great suffering of body or mind
was in torment for weeks after he broke up with his girlfriend
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to plague
to cause persistent suffering to
he was tormented by nightmares about the accident
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of torment
Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
This Christlike journey of scapegoating and torment ends in comeuppance for the haters and doubters, whose petty provocations tend to evoke a Bond villain in adolescence.
—Joshua Hunt, Vulture, 5 June 2025
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 June 2025
Jones' followers harassed and tormented the families for years.
—Tovia Smith, NPR, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for torment
Noun
In post-election Venezuela, where dissent is silenced with steel prison bars, torture and psychological warfare, even the absence of a phone call or a family visit has become a deliberate tool of torment.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 May 2025
This Christlike journey of scapegoating and torment ends in comeuppance for the haters and doubters, whose petty provocations tend to evoke a Bond villain in adolescence.
—Joshua Hunt, Vulture, 5 June 2025
Verb
Sarah Connor would never embrace the malevolent AI that tormented her in its quest to destroy humanity.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 June 2025
Jones' followers harassed and tormented the families for years.
—Tovia Smith, NPR, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for torment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torment
Noun
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With his wife in agony, Jason Nixdorf had a chance encounter with Zach Veigulis, a former chief data scientist at the Department of Veterans Affairs who was co-founding a company to help patients battle insurance company denials.—
Gretchen Morgenson,
NBC news,
18 July 2025
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Thank God that my family members could get vaccinated and have been free of the pain and agony of these illnesses.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
7 July 2025
Noun
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Extreme heat can also be an obstacle to exercising, spending time in nature, and socializing, all of which can make people feel good and also double as important coping mechanisms for emotional distress.—
Yasmin Tayag,
The Atlantic,
26 July 2025
-
During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
25 July 2025
Noun
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It was emptied of us and, therefore, full of dunes and demons, bogs and bleeding trees.—
Devon Walker-Figueroa,
The New York Review of Books,
3 July 2025
-
Things become messy when a popular rival boy band – The Saja Boys – are revealed to be demons.—
Laura Sirikul,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
Verb
-
Mohammad Omar had been plagued with medical problems since birth.—
Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou,
CNN Money,
22 July 2025
-
That’s the kind of problem that leads to the rodent Rose Parade that’s plagued other restaurants on this street.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
21 July 2025
Noun
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On top of the bathroom problems, the man says the kitchen is also a nightmare thanks to Jerry and Daisy, who leave dirty dishes around.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
27 July 2025
-
Even with my healthcare connections, advocating for her as a patient was a nightmare.—
Zoya Hasan,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
Noun
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Common side effects of Botox include pain and bruising, skin irritation, bleeding, headache and flu symptoms.—
Raven Brunner,
People.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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The pain persists, shaping countless lives for years to come.—
Graciela Mochkofsky,
New Yorker,
31 July 2025
Noun
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Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who is associated with the Gaza Tribunal, admitted to conspiring to aid the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in 2006.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
12 July 2025
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Gaza would be razed, much like Dresden or Hiroshima, in order to eliminate the danger of terror attacks on Israel coming from Gaza.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 July 2025
Verb
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Soliman spent about four years at Cincinnati Children's, first arriving in the United States in 2014 after being persecuted in his native Egypt for work in support of freelance journalists.—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
The Enquirer,
25 July 2025
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The state government, closely aligned with Virginia’s de facto official Anglican church, persecuted Baptists during the 18th century.—
Joseph V Micallef,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torment. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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