self-torment

[ self-tawr-ment, self- ]

noun

1. an act or instance of tormenting oneself, as with worry or guilt.

Other Words From

• self-tor·mented adjective
• self-tor·menting adjective
• self-tor·menting·ly adverb
• self-tor·mentor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-torment¹

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Mr. Smith’s subject is revealed to be obsession and self-torment, not least a father’s rabid overinfatuation with a child he cannot possess romantically.

From New York Times

Among the radical or progressive left, those people most likely to take a critical view of American policy and power, this bipolar disorder has produced many varieties of arcane self-torment and infighting over the years.

From Salon

Was then not all sorrow in time, all self-torment and fear in time?

From Literature

Add self-torment to that list of emotions she understands.

From The Guardian

The play’s first line of dialogue — the witch’s query “When shall we three meet again?” — is in this version also its last, as the limp, exhausted man onstage begins his elaborate ritual of self-torment anew.

From New York Times