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Glite Dictionary
torturesome

torturesome

9.9
Causing very strong physical or mental pain
  • adjective
  • Offensive
translation icon : torturante
  • The heat in the desert felt absolutely torturesome during the hike.

Examples

  • The torturesome process left him exhausted.

  • She found waiting for the final results to be torturesome.

  • The recovery process was torturesome and seemed endless to him.

  • She felt torturesome pain after the accident.

  • The long waiting times at the hospital were torturesome for the patients and their families.

  • He described the torturesome journey through the mountains as one of the most challenging experiences of his life.

  • After the torturesome workout, she felt utterly exhausted and sore.

Synonyms

painful
vstorturesome
737 1.0

Making someone feel physical hurt or strong emotional upset

is stronger, meaning very great pain rather than ordinary unpleasantness
brutal
vstorturesome
142 4.2

Very harsh and severe, causing great difficulty or pain

focuses more narrowly on intense pain or suffering rather than harshness alone
unbearable
vstorturesome
89 3.9

Too painful or unpleasant to stand

covers severe pain broadly but does not always stress intolerability
excruciating
vstorturesome
46 7.9

Causing very strong physical or mental pain

is similar but also covers enduring or causing great suffering generally
harrowing
vstorturesome
27 8.2

Causing very strong fear or sadness

is the severe pain concept but with more emotional sorrow than physical hurt
torturous
vstorturesome
  • Offensive
16 8.4

Causing very strong pain to the body or mind

covers both causing and undergoing very severe pain rather than only causing it
agonizing
vstorturesome
  • US
7 5.9

Causing very strong physical or emotional pain

is broader, applying to both causing and feeling very severe pain
torturing
vstorturesome
  • Offensive
7.9

Causing very strong physical or mental pain

includes both causing and experiencing severe pain, not only the active causing role
tortured
vstorturesome
  • Offensive
6.6

Feeling deep emotional pain and distress

can mean either causing pain or undergoing it rather than only suffering
racking
vstorturesome
7.4

Causing very strong physical or mental pain

is the general extreme pain idea but not limited to sudden fits
agonized
vstorturesome
  • US
6.3

Feeling very strong pain or deep worry

can mean causing pain as well as showing it, not only expressing it
tormented
vstorturesome
  • NSFW
7.0

Feeling very strong pain in the mind or body

also describes causing severe pain, not only the experience of suffering
afflictive
vstorturesome
8.9

Causing physical or emotional pain

is more specific about very great pain or agony rather than general harm

Antonyms

comfortable
494 1.0

Not feeling pain or physical discomfort

painless
39 1.0

Not causing physical hurt or emotional upset

How Painful

excruciating
46 7.9
torturesome
  • Offensive
9.9
painful
737 1.0
uncomfortable
713 1.7

Surface Forms

torturesome positive

Morphology

torturesome = torture (transparent) = torture + some

The adjective is formed by adding the productive adjectival suffix '-some' to 'torture', yielding 'causing or characterized by torture', which is predictable.

Etymology

Torturesome comes from torture, which itself comes from an old Latin word meaning 'to twist', so you can picture pain like being physically or mentally twisted. The ending -some means 'causing', so torturesome simply means 'causing great pain' or very painful.