Synonyms for torment
- verb
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Anguish
anguish, torture, agonize, agonise UK, rack, afflict, pang, harrow, hurt, wring, excruciate, wound, rend, pine, lacerate, aggrieve, sting, grieve, ache formal rare, throe dated
2. Distress
distress, vex, trouble, plague, pester, harass, irritate, molest, tease, annoy, provoke, persecute, harry, bedevil, tantalize, tantalise UK, crucify, frustrate, worry, nag, fret, hector, badger
Other
come after, scarify, thrutch UK
Noun
1. Agony — any extreme pain, anguish or misery, either physical or mental
agony, misery, pain, suffering, annoyance, scourge, grief, infliction, vexation, bane, thorn, smart, sorrow, affliction, woe, hardship, irritation, nuisance, grievance
2. Badgering
Other
Definitions
- v. 1
To cause severe suffering to (stronger than to vex but weaker than to torture.)
The child tormented the flies by pulling their wings off.
- n. 1
Any extreme pain, anguish or misery, either physical or mental.
He behaved bitter from the torments of the divorce.
- n. 2
Torture, originally as inflicted by an instrument of torture.
I've gone through living torment.
Related words
- Word family
- tormentuous tormentous torture
Choose the right word
Torment and torture are intense and terrible sufferings.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- torture His lecture on chemistry was nothing but torture.
- anguish The source of my anguish is your lack of loyalty.
- afflict My motto is: Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
- agonize I hope we didn't agonize over this decision for nothing.
- plague Their first daughter died from the plague in 1576.
- pester We will pester him with heaps of questions.
By length
- 3 letters
- woe1, nag1, vex1
- 4 letters
- pain1, hurt1, pine1, rack1, ache1, fret1, bane1, pang1, rend
- 5 letters
- worry2, smart1, harry2, wound1, grief1, curse1, sting1, tease1, agony3, annoy2, thorn1, wring1, throe
- 6 letters
- plague1, misery3, sorrow2, hector2, badger2, ordeal2, grieve1, harass2, harrow2, molest2, pester2
- 7 letters
- trouble2, torture2, provoke2, anguish2, scourge1, crucify3, afflict2, agonize3, bedevil3, agonise, scarify, thrutch
- 8 letters
- worrying3, distress2, hardship2, nuisance2, irritate3, vexation, lacerate3, aggrieve2
- 9 letters
- suffering3, annoyance3, martyrdom3, grievance2, frustrate2, persecute3, badgering3, tantalize3, tantalise
- 10 letters
- harassment3, irritation4, affliction3, infliction3, excruciate
- 11 letters
- bedevilment
- 12 letters
- excruciation
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (worry2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- tourmenter
- Català
- torturar