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
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2
as in wrenching
intensely or unbearably painful
the post-infection treatment for rabies was as notoriously torturous as the disease itself
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Recent Examples of torturous
While folks all across the nation are grappling with torturous TSA lines, Joe Jonas actually had fun at the airport on Saturday.
—
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
The verified account, @realanndowd (not to be confused with Bald Ann Dowd), made its first post on March 18 — finally ending the torturous 5,642-day dry spell of there being no Ann Dowd on the app.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Julia’s psychosis starts to shatter, overcome by cardboard shipping boxes and torturous insomnia.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 15 Mar. 2026
The point is that in a pinch, Apple’s low-cost MacBook can handle its share of work without slowing to a crawl or feeling torturous to deal with.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
The verified account, @realanndowd (not to be confused with Bald Ann Dowd), made its first post on March 18 — finally ending the torturous 5,642-day dry spell of there being no Ann Dowd on the app.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Julia’s psychosis starts to shatter, overcome by cardboard shipping boxes and torturous insomnia.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 15 Mar. 2026
The point is that in a pinch, Apple’s low-cost MacBook can handle its share of work without slowing to a crawl or feeling torturous to deal with.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torturous
Adjective
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Quickly, and out of nowhere, the moment went from fun to incredibly painful for Golla.—
Mark Harris OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
17 May 2026
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Regenvanu also makes clear that Vanuatu will not withdraw its UN resolution, despite pressure and despite painful compromises in the text.—
Ingmar Rentzhog,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
Adjective
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Another wrenching question, of course, is whether at least the younger Perez siblings would want or need to go with Olga to Guatemala if she were deported.—
Tim Padgett,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2026
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These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The scheme has been so successful, law enforcement has created a joint FBI-National Security Division task force to disrupt the operations and have dealt a series of harsh prison terms to American accomplices who have willingly aided the North Koreans.—
Amanda Gerut,
Fortune,
14 May 2026
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To fully embody her OnlyFans persona, an earthside alien named The Hungry Ghost, who offers mild nudity and harsh criticism of her willing subscribers’ genitalia.—
Alli Rosenbloom,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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But to even start that journey requires an agonizing, sober look in the mirror.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
18 May 2026
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In a movie that’s almost operatic in its cymbal clashes of violence, its agonizing tensions and vicious threats, the heartstopping scene in which Hester receives her diagnosis at the doctor’s office is perhaps the single most devastating moment.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
Adjective
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In Sylvie’s imagination, Nita becomes Anna, a sultry beauty with a cruel streak who has been dating the meek Christophe (Niney) while secretly engaging in an affair with their married boss, Pierre (Cassel).—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
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The first major climb of any Grand Tour is usually a cruel dose of reality — where teams, having built around a rider over the previous week, suddenly realise those sacrifices might have been in vain.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Adjective
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His past films have covered the Hungarian Uprising, the fraught lead-up to WWI and, in 2015’s excruciating Son of Saul, life and death in a Nazi concentration camp.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
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More playing like adults at the most difficult moments, following excruciating losses or facing the possibility of one more loss ending the season.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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There is a brightness and its opposite, not darkness but another brightness, just as intense.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
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Paxton voters are more intense in their contempt for Cornyn than vice versa.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Torturous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torturous. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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