TORMENTED Synonyms: 156 Similar and Opposite Words

tormented 1 of 2

adjective

as in tortured

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tormented

2 of 2

verb

past tense of torment

as in plagued

to cause persistent suffering to he was tormented by nightmares about the accident

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tormented

Verb

The other was a decent man constantly being tormented by God in order to test his faith. — Chuck Lorre, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026 The Eagles, of course, have tormented the league with that play. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026 The series follows a group of Los Angeles teenagers in the 1980s who are being tormented by a serial killer known as the Trawler. — Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026 Parents of children murdered at Sandy Hook in 2012 were tormented for years by conspiracy theorists who claimed their kids hadn’t really died. — Elle Reeve, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026 About a month after that, the financier, tormented by fears of further investigation, died of apoplexy. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026 Leite is one week removed from giving Angel Reese and Howard fits in Atlanta, while Astier has tormented the Fever duo of Clark and Aliyah Boston. — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Saeed and Nadia live in an unnamed country tormented by civil war—and meanwhile, there are rumors of mysterious doors, portals that lead to other places. — Chloe Benjamain, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026 Nosferatu In 2024 Depp appeared in Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu as Ellen Hutter, a young woman tormented and nearly possessed by the film’s titular vampire. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tormented

Adjective

Our tortured contemporary education is a logical outgrowth of its origin story.

— Kamau Bobb October 21, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
Earlier works tinging with an obscure kind of darkness that hinted at tortured psychological states have all but disappeared from her work and living quarters in lieu of an elegant old world charm.

— Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of tortured

Verb

But he was plagued by guilt over his ancestor’s role in the trials, and felt compelled to explore themes of human character, greed, and social decay through his work.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Joan realizes that her mother’s vanishing meshes with a larger tapestry of tragedy that has plagued their family over the years.

— Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of plagued

Adjective

Scholten told Semafor that experience positions Turek to convert frustrated Republicans.

— Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Some parents became so frustrated with the district’s position that the school board vote devolved into shouting from the audience as board members tried to speak over the crowd, video from the meeting showed.

— Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of frustrated

Verb

Those governments provide assurances that people won’t be persecuted or tortured, federal attorneys said.

— Lindsay Whitehurst, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Also, some immigration cases involve people seeking asylum because they are being persecuted by a foreign government and releasing a person’s full name could be considered sensitive or even dangerous.

— Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of persecuted

Adjective

Others were placed under house arrest, harassed or subject to extensive surveillance, or had their passports confiscated, according to prior NPR reporting and the findings of the United Nations and rights groups.

— Emily Feng, NPR, 17 May 2026
For years, Christian clergy who live and work in Jerusalem have reported being frequently spat on, harassed and even physically attacked by Israeli extremists.

— Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 1 May 2026

Definition of harassed

Verb

Love contains the seeds of its own destruction—the cruelty and self-absorption that turns the afflicted against one another, and themselves.

— Merve Emre, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026
While the epicenter was located in Nantou County in central Taiwan, serious damage afflicted residents across the island as roads buckled, bridges collapsed and landslides destroyed everything in their path.

— Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of afflicted

Verb

Mehra – director of 2016 pic Baar Baar Dekho and creator of Prime Video series Big Girls Don’t Cry – says that while Indian audiences are besieged by films and TV content right now, where Hunkkaar has cut through is in its subject matter.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
Its largest medical center, Al-Shifa Hospital, was besieged, bombed, and raided, under false pretexts, resulting in hundreds of deaths inside.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of besieged

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“Tormented.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tormented. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of tormented

adjective

verb

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