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
In contrast to the long, drawn-out, gradually intensifying torturous death scenes of the Final Destination franchise, this one emphasizes the swift and sudden unpredictability of Death’s design.
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Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
The Elephant Man and Dune then mark Lynch’s entry into the Hollywood system, with the former a critical triumph and the latter a torturous misfire that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2025
The torturous clobbering comes after Joel saves Abby from infected hordes and is coldly executed in front of his surrogate daughter, Ellie (Bella Ramsey).
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
One of the hardest parts is her daily growth-hormone injections—a torturous process for everyone involved.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 22 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Gayle Sequeira, Vulture, 16 May 2025
The Elephant Man and Dune then mark Lynch’s entry into the Hollywood system, with the former a critical triumph and the latter a torturous misfire that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2025
The torturous clobbering comes after Joel saves Abby from infected hordes and is coldly executed in front of his surrogate daughter, Ellie (Bella Ramsey).
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
One of the hardest parts is her daily growth-hormone injections—a torturous process for everyone involved.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 22 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for torturous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torturous
Adjective
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Their boyfriends, meanwhile, suffer the painful indignities of paper cutters, buzzsaws, and other sharp objects.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
23 May 2025
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Manu diving can hurt The researchers caution that the manu maneuver is not only difficult but can be risky and painful.—
Elizabeth Weise,
USA Today,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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In fact, all forms of Persian rap — from street rap and gangsta to philosophical and social hip-hop — were used in the service of protest, with many works accompanied by heavy beats, dark atmospheres, and harsh narrative styles.—
Ali Farahmand,
IndieWire,
23 May 2025
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Though Nicole reserves her harshest jabs for Jorgeous, the real heat is between Tina and Mistress.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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Though Hunt Wynorski’s (Nick Zano) actual death happens off-screen, his pained panic at being trapped underwater by the suction pull of a public pool’s drain is an agonizing sequence, culminating in the gnarly visual of a blood-and-guts fountain.—
Gayle Sequeira,
Vulture,
16 May 2025
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Because Voyager is so incredibly distant, the team faced an agonizing 23-hour wait for the radio signal to travel all the way back to Earth.—
Victoria Corless,
Space.com,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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But then perhaps that is her unsatisfying but depressingly undeniable point: there is no challenging minds this small, behaviors this cruel, spirits this mean.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
30 May 2025
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The reason Evin is infamous is because of its terribly cruel high security detention centers that are poorly supervised by the Prison Chief.—
Jeff Kaufman,
Time,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Former New York Daily News reporter Frank Isola covered the Knicks for the hometown newspaper and remembers the slow and excruciating decay at Madison Square Garden.—
Mark Morales,
CNN Money,
29 May 2025
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My cancer had invaded my bones, causing excruciating pain.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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But Tranter and Bartlett said Trump may settle roughly into this range of having an approval rating between 43 percent and 47 percent given the intense polarization of the country, as has been common in the past couple administrations.—
Jared Gans,
The Hill,
31 May 2025
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Residents of Maoming, China were treated to a celestial light show earlier this week when a surprise fireball burst to life overhead, illuminating the city before disappearing in an intense flare of light.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
31 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Torturous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torturous. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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