torturing

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive

   Deliberately causing someone severe pain or suffering, for example to punish them or force them to talk.

   Grammar: Takes an object: torturing a prisoner. It is the -ing form of torture, so it follows be in continuous tenses: they were torturing him.

   Patterns

   • torturing someone
   • torturing someone for information

   Torturing prisoners is banned under international law.

   The report accused the guards of torturing detainees for information.

   He was arrested for torturing animals.

2. 2verbtransitivefigurative

   Causing someone strong mental pain, worry or discomfort, or being tormented by it yourself.

   Grammar: Takes an object, often a reflexive one: torturing yourself over a mistake.

   Patterns

   • torturing yourself with something
   • torturing yourself over something

   Stop torturing yourself over a mistake you made years ago.

   The little brother kept torturing her with the same annoying song.

   She spent the night torturing herself with what-ifs.

3. 3verbtransitivefigurativedisapproving

   Twisting or forcing something out of its natural form, such as words, facts or a plot.

   Grammar: Used with a thing as the object, usually to criticize: torturing the grammar.

   Patterns

   • torturing the language
   • torturing the facts

   The writer is torturing the language to make a rhyme.

   The lawyer was accused of torturing the evidence to fit his case.

   You are torturing the plot to force a happy ending.

Word forms

Common combinations

torturing prisoners

The regime was condemned for torturing prisoners.

torturing yourself

You are only torturing yourself by reading those old messages.

torturing animals

Torturing animals is a crime in most countries.

torturing someone for information

Torturing suspects for information often produces false confessions.

stop torturing

Stop torturing the poor dog with that loud toy!

Synonyms and how they differ

tormenting

Tormenting often means causing ongoing mental distress or teasing, so it can be milder than torturing, which suggests severe, deliberate pain.

persecuting

Persecuting means treating a group of people cruelly over a long time because of who they are, rather than inflicting pain on one person.

agonizing

Agonizing as a verb is mostly used for worrying painfully over a decision, and it does not suggest another person causing the pain.

mistreating

Mistreating is a milder, more general word for harming or being unkind to someone, with no sense of extreme pain.

Opposites

Word family

torture verb

to cause severe pain to someone on purpose

torture noun

the act of causing severe pain, or something very unpleasant

torturer noun

a person who tortures others

torturous adjective

very painful or unpleasant, often because it goes on too long

Commonly confused: torturing or tortuous?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “torturing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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