torture.

1. The deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering, often for punishment, coercion, information, or cruel enjoyment.

2. Intense mental or physical suffering, often used figuratively for prolonged distress.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• subject to torture
• evidence of torture
• torture chamber

On the page

The scars were examined for evidence of torture.

She refused to describe the torture as merely harsh questioning.

The waiting itself became a form of torture in his account.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Intentional suffering distinguishes it from accidental injury; also figurative for intense distress. Not a neutral term for every unpleasant experience. Also used as a verb for the corresponding process. Usually uncountable for suffering; count plural tortures for separate acts or forms of imposed suffering. Derived family: torturer (agent noun). Secondary same-lexeme verb [base, third-person, past, past participle, -ing]: torture, tortures, tortured, tortured, torturing.