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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

torture.

The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈtɔːt͡ʃə/Received-Pronunciation[ˈtʰɔːt͡ʃə]Received-Pronunciation/ˈtoːt͡ʃə/Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard[ˈtʰoːt͡ʃə]Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard

  1. The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.

    countable · uncountable
    People confess to anything under torture.
    Using large dogs to attack bound, hand-cuffed prisoners is clearly torture.

  2. The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish. Sexual activity involving the infliction of pain to a certain body part or in a certain manner.

    countable · in-compounds · uncountable
    cock and ball torture
    tickle torture

  3. Severe pain or anguish, of mind or body.

    countable · uncountable

  4. An unpleasant sensation or its infliction: embarrassment, heartache, etc.

    countable · uncountable
    Every time she says 'goodbye' it is torture!
Where this word comes from

From Middle English torture, from Old French torture, from Late Latin tortūra (“a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping colic;” in Medieval Latin “pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion, torture”), from Latin tortus (whence also tort), past participle of torquēre (“to twist”).

verb/ˈtɔːt͡ʃə/Received-Pronunciation[ˈtʰɔːt͡ʃə]Received-Pronunciation/ˈtoːt͡ʃə/Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard[ˈtʰoːt͡ʃə]Australia, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard

  1. To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone), usually with the aim of forcing confessions or punishing them.

    transitive
    People who torture often have sadistic tendencies.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English torture, from Old French torture, from Late Latin tortūra (“a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping colic;” in Medieval Latin “pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion, torture”), from Latin tortus (whence also tort), past participle of torquēre (“to twist”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.