Tormented

How to spell tormented

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce tormented

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tormented mean?

1. verbCaused someone or something prolonged suffering, distress, or annoyance.
2. adjectiveShowing or experiencing great mental anguish or suffering.

Tormented in a sentence

• verb

  The constant noise from the road tormented the residents for months.

• adjective

  His tormented expression told everyone the news had been bad.

• verb

  Guilt over the mistake tormented him long after the meeting ended.

• adjective

  The diary revealed a deeply tormented mind behind the calm public face.

Where does tormented come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin tormentum, which originally named a device for hurling missiles and also an instrument of torture, both worked by twisting cords; the root is the verb torquere, meaning 'to twist'. By extension tormentum came to mean the physical torture inflicted by such devices, and then any severe pain or anguish of body or mind. English took it in through Old French as 'torment' during the 1200s, first for bodily torture and later for mental suffering. The form 'tormented' is the past tense and participle, used both as a verb and as an adjective describing someone gripped by deep distress. The same twisting root sits inside relatives like 'torque', 'torture', and 'contort', a handy reminder of the single 't' in the middle and the plain '-ent' before the '-ed'.

How the word is built

• torment (from Latin tormentum: torture, anguish)
• -ed (past-tense/adjective suffix)