1
as in nightmares
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
it's torture for me to see you so unhappy
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind
spent an afternoon in torture waiting to hear whether her brother had made it home safely
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in plagues
to cause persistent suffering to
the neighbor's dog constantly tortures our cat, barking at him and chasing him down the street
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in distorts
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition
tortured her naturally straight hair into curls
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tortures
David Bloom, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.
—David Bloom, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tortures
Noun
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Symptoms include high anxiety, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, frequent intrusive memories of trauma, nightmares and flashbacks.—
Arash Javanbakht,
The Conversation,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Now, the nightmares come to Switch 2.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Yet, the new Terminal 1 has several stores that take great pains to include local flair.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Sep. 2025
-
The movie is, in part, about the labor pains of its creator, the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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His voice already had that staticky, far-away quality that plagues international calls, which made Nakia fear he was gone for good.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Everything that plagues Chicago also plagues America.—
Heidi Stevens,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Messy data wrecks forecasts, distorts reporting and wastes time.—
Thasha Batts,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Stress or overconfidence distorts risk perception and influences decisions far more than spreadsheets.—
Bruce Helmer,
Twin Cities,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
More than a thousand miles away in New Delhi, Mohammad waits for his daughter, powerless to save her for a second time from the horrors faced by their community in Myanmar.—
Esha Mitra,
CNN Money,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Hard Rock Stadium is a house of horrors for the Patriots dating back to their dynasty days.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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With an almost modern-day Charlie Chaplin-esque physicality, Moss dances, contorts, and frolics amongst the shoes, their boxes, and fixtures in the store for a mesmerizing, can't-look-away effect.—
Roxanne Robinson,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Stewart contorts his face with a look of disbelief when asked if Montgomery has stayed on him.—
Paul Dehner Jr,
New York Times,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease caused by a virus that primarily and most severely afflicts children.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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Although there have been recent breakthroughs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, no medication has succeeded in stopping or reversing the disease that afflicts more than 7 million Americans, a number projected to reach almost 13 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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According to Burlison, the video shows a high-speed object—presumably the missile—hitting the orb, which then deforms, tumbles, and sheds smaller fragments, one barely visible.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
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This movement deforms a fault network stretching west, where shallow earthquake occur (shown in orange and red).—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tortures.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tortures. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
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