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
But Bowman is reveling in the idea that a Frenchman not only won gold in what many regard as swimming’s most torturous event — but that the same Frenchman snared the last of Phelps’s world records at last summer’s world championships.
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Barry Svrluga, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
Everything is quiet except the torturous, repetitive wail of the caller.
—Britta Lokting, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2024
Look no further than Cleveland's torturous security lines.
—Sam Allard, Axios, 18 Sep. 2024
Even that process was torturous, said Butler, noting the city clerk asked the county to add back more than 1,000 signatures that the county had rejected.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for torturous 
Barry Svrluga, Washington Post, 30 July 2024
Everything is quiet except the torturous, repetitive wail of the caller.
—Britta Lokting, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2024
Look no further than Cleveland's torturous security lines.
—Sam Allard, Axios, 18 Sep. 2024
Even that process was torturous, said Butler, noting the city clerk asked the county to add back more than 1,000 signatures that the county had rejected.
—Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for torturous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for torturous
Adjective
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Being apart from them was a painful sacrifice, but the promise of Canadian residency for her and eventually her children seemed worth it.Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
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Survivor: Thailand The fake merge and brutal last challenge — where the final three had to hold coins between their fingers in a crazy painful pose — keep this dud out of the bottom spot.Dalton Ross, EW.com, 12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The corps’ push for additional benefits coincided with a harsh realization for the British Army: For white men, service in the West Indies was viewed as a death sentence due to the high risk of disease.Kinsey Gidick, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024
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With his latest project, he’s found a balance between the harsher realities of the real world, and his own playful spirit.Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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But even in the worst cases of lupus, the decline—though agonizing—is much slower.ByJennifer Couzin-Frankel, science.org, 14 Nov. 2024
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For people who were close to Cliff Lambert, the still-unresolved legal saga surrounding his brutal killing more than a decade ago has been agonizing.Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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By the time Lovely Runner’s series finale dropped in late May, millions of K-drama fans around the world had become invested in the story of Sol and Sun-jae, desperate to find out if their love could withstand the cruel vagaries of fate.Kayti Burt, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
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The gods prove cruel but not omnipotent, and the modern settings exert their own redemptive pull; the final effect is that of a magic trick, in which the characters manage, in each film’s miraculous closing moments, to slip the bonds of tragedy.Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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None of the series is easy to watch, but the fourth episode — in which the 36-year-old comedian takes a multi-day road trip with his estranged father, Joe — is both excruciating and intensely moving.EW Staff, EW.com, 5 Dec. 2024
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After suffering four excruciating defeats to begin its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Cal could have been swallowed up by deja vu when Wake Forest fought back to trail just 39-36 midway through the fourth quarter on Friday night.Jeff Faraudo, The Mercury News, 9 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The warm front is a sharp contrast to the close of last week when an arctic surge swept across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic with snow squalls, whiteouts and intense bursts of wind that left 20 million Americans under winter weather warnings or advisories.Susan Miller, USA TODAY, 9 Dec. 2024
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Becoming a professor requires years and years of intense study, often carried out in isolation and poverty.Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near torturous
Cite this Entry
“Torturous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/torturous. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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