Meaning & use
torment
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Meanings
noununcountable
Severe physical or mental suffering.
Grammar: No plural; often used with 'in' or 'of': in torment, years of torment.
Patterns
- in torment
- years of torment
- emotional torment
He lived in torment after the accident, unable to forget what he had seen.
The prisoners endured months of physical torment.
nouncountable
A person or thing that causes great suffering or annoyance.
Grammar: Can be followed by 'to': a torment to his parents.
Patterns
- a torment to someone
- the torment of something
The constant noise was a torment to everyone in the building.
Her younger brother was a torment to her when they were children.
verbtransitive
To cause someone severe distress or suffering, often repeatedly.
Grammar: Takes an object: torment someone. Often used in the passive: was tormented by doubt.
Patterns
- torment someone
- be tormented by something
- torment someone with something
The older boys tormented him every day after school.
She was tormented by guilt for years.
Don't torment your sister with those scary stories.
Word forms
| third person singular | torments |
|---|---|
| past tense | tormented |
| past participle | tormented |
| -ing form | tormenting |
| plural | torments |
Common combinations
- in torment
- He was in torment until he heard she was safe.
- mental torment
- The uncertainty caused her constant mental torment.
- torment someone with something
- Stop tormenting me with questions I can't answer.
- be tormented by doubt
- He was tormented by doubt before making the decision.
Synonyms and how they differ
- agony
- Agony is more intense and usually physical; torment often suggests prolonged mental suffering.
- anguish
- Anguish is deep emotional pain, often from loss; torment can also mean a person or thing that causes pain.
- suffering
- Suffering is a general word for pain; torment is stronger and suggests cruelty or persistence.
- harass
- As a verb, harass means to annoy or bother repeatedly, but it does not always imply severe suffering like torment.
Opposites
Word family
- tormentor noun
- A person who torments someone.
- tormented adjective
- Suffering greatly, especially mentally.
- tormenting adjective
- Causing torment; very annoying or distressing.
Commonly confused: torment or torture?
torment vs torture
Torture is the act of causing severe physical pain, often as punishment; torment can be mental and does not have to be physical.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'in torment', meaning suffering greatly. The other prepositions do not form natural phrases with 'torment' in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “torment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.