1
as in painful
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally
it was a tormenting moment as they helplessly watched the other team score in the final seconds of the game
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in torturing
intensely or unbearably painful
a tormenting injury
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in plaguing
to cause persistent suffering to
he was tormented by nightmares about the accident
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tormenting
Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 8 Jan. 2026
Stop tormenting the boy, says Helga.
—Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
In her exhaustive chronicle, Jennings traces the long folkloric history of monk-tormenting demons.
—JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025
As in much of McGuane’s fiction, the natural environment—in this case, the vitreous Florida flats, and the angler-tormenting tarpon, permit, and bonefish that populate them—provides the foil.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Known for his brash comedic style, the British actor seems tailor-made for the part of the bearded bully who delights in tormenting everyone around him — especially his wife.
—Jane Lacroix, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
By 2016, the Penguins had been tormenting the Capitals with playoff comebacks for decades, and Sidney Crosby was pulling away in his rivalry with Alexander Ovechkin.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Baldoni later accused Lively of tormenting him, his family and colleagues in a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York in January.
—Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 12 Sep. 2025
As her condition worsens, her fiancé’s brooding cousin becomes an unwilling participant in the evil forces tormenting her.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2025
Verb
Season 4 is not going to let up on tormenting Will, according to Ramon Rodriguez, the actor who plays him.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for tormenting
Adjective
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Proper skin preparation is key to making your wax sessions less painful.—
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The high fevers, hospitalizations, and dehydration that these illnesses cause can be painful and disruptive—and, with vaccines, avoidable.—
Verb
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Both cases are apt to serve as models for how to prevent the kind of school shootings still plaguing the nation and could set legal precedent for who shoulders the blame when children have access to guns and open fire on campus.—
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The Live With Kelly and Mark talk show hostess seemingly hasn't known peace on the scariest day of the year for quite some time, but not because of ghosts and ghoulies plaguing her — but, rather, ungrateful neighbors who consistently complain about her Halloween candy.—
Adjective
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The forest had taught him that city dwellers could often be regulated by cruel and rather unpredictable codes.—
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That Maduro is a cruel dictator is clear; that Trump intends more than just his arrest (such as taking their oil) is equally clear.—
Adjective
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Warfare Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.—
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One particularly wrenching moment in the film made an impression on her stepfather, Kurt Russell.—
Verb
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Trump has repeatedly alleged that the South African government is actively persecuting white citizens, particularly farmers.—
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The former human-rights lawyer entered on a tourist visa and filed for political asylum in October of that year, claiming the governments that succeeded Correa were persecuting him.—
Adjective
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September 22 Lucas Museum opens After a long, semi-torturous process, George Lucas’s grand vision for a public museum containing an impressive collection of paintings, drawings, and film memorabilia will finally come to fruition.—
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During this increasingly torturous adjustment period, Millie learns Nina spent some time in a psychiatric facility years earlier after allegedly leaving Cece to drown in a bathtub and taking enough pills to kill herself.—
Adjective
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The Cincinnati Bengals have endured agonizing losses over the past two weeks, both falling late in the fourth quarter due to a defense that has struggled to make key stops.—
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The agonizing disease disproportionately impacts black and brown people, many of whom don’t live past their 50s and struggle with heart disease, strokes, kidney disease, and joint problems.—
Verb
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Other geopolitical threats afflicting OPEC+ nations continue to simmer.—
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The Canadian national conscience is rightly troubled by the serious social problems afflicting Indigenous Canada.—
Cite this Entry
“Tormenting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tormenting. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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