Synonyms for torture
ˈtɔr tʃərtor·ture

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. torture

   Pain is the most general term of this group, including all the others; pain is a disturbing sensation from which nature revolts, resulting from some injurious external interference (as from a wound, a bruise, a harsh word, etc.), or from some lack of what one needs, craves, or cherishes (as, the pain of hunger or bereavement), or from some abnormal action of bodily or mental functions (as, the pains of disease, envy, or discontent). Suffering is one of the severer forms of pain. The prick of a needle causes pain, but we should scarcely speak of it as suffering. Distress is too strong a word for little hurts, too feeble for the intensest suffering, but commonly applied to some continuous or prolonged trouble or need; as, the distress of a shipwrecked crew, or of a destitute family. Ache is lingering pain, more or less severe; pang, a pain short, sharp, intense, and perhaps repeated. We speak of the pangs of hunger or of remorse. Throe is a violent and thrilling pain. Paroxysm applies to an alternately recurring and receding pain, which comes as it were in waves; the paroxysm is the rising of the wave. Torment and torture are intense and terrible sufferings. Agony and anguish express the utmost pain or suffering of body or mind. Agony of body is that with which the system struggles; anguish that by which it is crushed.

   Synonyms:
   ache, agony, anguish, distress, pain, pang, paroxysm, suffering, throe, torment, twinge, wo(e)

   Antonyms:
   comfort, delight, ease, enjoyment, peace, rapture, relief, solace

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.7 / 3 votes

1. torture

   Synonyms:
   agony, anguish, racking, torment

   Antonyms:
   ecstasy, rapture, bliss

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. anguish, torment, torturenoun

   extreme mental distress

   Synonyms:
   badgering, distortion, worrying, overrefinement, torturing, straining, harassment, anguish, bedevilment, twisting, agony, curse, torment

2. torture, tormentnoun

   unbearable physical pain

   Synonyms:
   badgering, harassment, worrying, overrefinement, torturing, agony, anguish, bedevilment, curse, twisting, distortion, straining, torment

3. agony, torment, torturenoun

   intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain

   "an agony of doubt"; "the torments of the damned"

   Synonyms:
   badgering, distortion, worrying, overrefinement, torturing, straining, harassment, excruciation, anguish, bedevilment, suffering, twisting, agony, curse, torment

4. distortion, overrefinement, straining, torture, twistingnoun

   the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean

   Synonyms:
   overrefinement, straining, strain, torturing, spin, twist, optical aberration, twisting, aberration, whirl, twirl, distortion, deformation, agony, distorted shape, anguish, torment

5. torture, torturingverb

   the deliberate, systematic, or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons in an attempt to force another person to yield information or to make a confession or for any other reason

   "it required unnatural torturing to extract a confession"

   Synonyms:
   overrefinement, torturing, agony, anguish, twisting, distortion, straining, torment

6. torment, torture, excruciate, rackverb

   torment emotionally or mentally

   Synonyms:
   squeeze, gouge, bedevil, wring, extort, rack, rag, single-foot, excruciate, crucify, scud, dun, frustrate, torment

7. torture, excruciate, tormentverb

   subject to torture

   "The sinners will be tormented in Hell, according to the Bible"

   Synonyms:
   bedevil, rack, rag, excruciate, crucify, dun, frustrate, torment

Matched Categories

1. • Anguish
   • Falsification
   • Injure
   • Pain
   • Suffering

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. torturenoun

   Synonyms:
   anguish, agony, torment, rack, pang, extreme pain, excruciating pain, acute distress

2. tortureverb

   Synonyms:
   torment, distress, agonize, rack, excruciate, pain extremely, put to extreme pain

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:2.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "torture":

   tortured, torturing, tortures, tortura

Suggested Resources

1. torture

   Song lyrics by torture -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by torture on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use torture in a sentence?

1. Christianne Boudreau:

   He was compelled to go there to help save women and children to stop the torture, to stop Bashar al-Assad and that's what drew him there and as he told me, 'I'm finally doing something productive in my life, mum,'.

2. Pamela Anderson:

   This is torture, seaWorld is clinging desperately to the past. We all know captive orcas go insane and suffer terribly when separated from their families.

3. Colin Strickland:

   There is no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel about my proximity to this horrible crime.

4. Timothy Piazza:

   This is torture, this was callous and cold and inhumane.

5. James Goldston:

   Often international criminal investigations begin with the' crime base' -- authenticated images, witness testimonies and other evidence concerning killings, torture, rape or other prohibited offenses which may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity -- and proceed upward along a chain of military or political authority to demonstrate the culpability of those who ordered, or who knew of but failed to prevent/punish, the commission of such crimes.