torment

American  

[tawr-ment, tawr-ment, tawr-ment] / tɔrˈmɛnt, ˈtɔr mɛnt, ˈtɔr mɛnt /

verb (used with object)

1. to afflict with great bodily or mental suffering; pain.

   to be tormented with violent headaches.

   Synonyms:

   agonize, distress, vex, hector, harry

   Antonyms:

   please

2. to worry or annoy excessively.

   to torment one with questions.

   Synonyms:

   fret, trouble, needle, provoke, tease, pester, plague

3. to throw into commotion; stir up; disturb.

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noun

1. a state of great bodily or mental suffering; agony; misery.

   Synonyms:

   anguish, distress, torture

2. something that causes great bodily or mental pain or suffering.

3. a source of much trouble, worry, or annoyance.

4. an instrument of torture, as the rack or the thumbscrew.

5. the infliction of torture by means of such an instrument or the torture so inflicted.

torment British  

verb

1. to afflict with great pain, suffering, or anguish; torture

2. to tease or pester in an annoying way

   stop tormenting the dog

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noun

1. physical or mental pain

2. a source of pain, worry, annoyance, etc

3. archaic an instrument of torture

4. archaic the infliction of torture

Related Words

Torment , rack , torture suggest causing great physical or mental pain, suffering, or harassment. To torment is to afflict or harass as by incessant repetition of vexations or annoyances: to be tormented by doubts. To rack is to affect with such pain as that suffered by one stretched on a rack; to concentrate with painful effort: to rack one's brains. To torture is to afflict with acute and more or less protracted suffering: to torture one by keeping one in suspense.

Other Word Forms

• tormented adjective
• tormentedly adverb
• tormenting adjective
• tormentingly adverb
• tormentingness noun
• untormented adjective
• untormenting adjective
• untormentingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of torment

First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) Middle English, from Old French, from Latin tormentum “rope, catapult, torture,” from unattested tork w -ment- ( torque, -ment ); (verb) Middle English tormenten, from Old French tormenter, derivative of torment (compare Late Latin tormentāre )

Explanation

By repeatedly trying to make someone miserable you torment them. The noun torment is the result of the verb torment. After stealing the old lady's purse, you might expect to be tormented by many sleepless nights. Those nights without sleep will torment (tor-MENT) you. They are your torment (TOR-ment). Perhaps you shouldn't have done that. You'll doubtless notice the relationship between torture and torment. But the subtle difference between them is that to torment someone is to torture them repeatedly. Often this is used metaphorically. For example, calling someone over and over to demand payment isn't actually torture, but it's certainly a way to torment them.

Example Sentences

Reigning champion Rory McIlroy has the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history, but unusually hot and dry weather is set to firm up the course and torment the world’s best golfers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

But the mother does not know what happened to him and describes the lack of answers as "mental torment".

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

Tartakovsky conveys all of Spear’s torment, loneliness and the magnitude of his love with zero dialogue, only a wide-eyed stare into the distance as he lumbers along, pulled by the memory of an unfinished life.

From Salon • Feb. 1, 2026

Colombian writer-director Simón Mesa Soto’s acutely observed Cannes-recognized “A Poet” lays bare that torment with the tale of a has-been writer for whom exquisite suffering has curdled into garden-variety middle-age failure.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

“Do not torment yourself. You could not have stopped her, for she was determined.”

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Related Words

• afflict
• annoy
• bedevil
• bother
• harass
• hound
• hurt
• irritate
• mistreat
• molest
• nag
• pester
• plague
• smite
• tease
• torture
• vex