| Main Entry: | torture |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | upset or hurt severely |
Synonyms: |
abuse, afflict, agonize, annoy, beat, bother, crucify, distress, disturb, excruciate, grill, harrow, impale, injure, irritate, lacerate, maim, mangle, martyr, martyrize, mistreat, mutilate, oppress, pain, persecute, rack, smite, torment, try, whip, wound, wring, wrong |
| Notes: | torment suggests persecution or the repeated inflicting of suffering or annoyance; torture adds the implication of causing unbearable pain or suffering |
Antonyms: |
alleviate, make happy, please, relieve |
| Main Entry: | afflict |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cause or become hurt |
Synonyms: |
agonize, annoy, beset, bother, burden, crucify, distress, grieve, harass, harrow, harry, irk, lacerate, martyr, oppress, pain, pester, plague, press, rack, smite, strike, torment, torture, trouble, try, vex, worry, wound |
| Notes: | afflict is generally used with living beings; inflict is generally used with inanimate objects inflict takes 'on,' afflict takes 'with' |
Antonyms: |
aid, comfort, help, solace, stay away from, take care of |
| Main Entry: | agonize |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | suffer or cause another to suffer |
Synonyms: |
afflict, bleed, carry on, crucify, distress, disturb, eat heart out, excruciate, harrow, hurt, labor, lament, martyr, pain, rack, sing the blues, squirm, stew over, strain, strive, struggle, take it badly, torment, torture, try, wince, worry, writhe |
Antonyms: |
not worry |
| Main Entry: | bully |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | intimidate, push around |
Synonyms: |
bludgeon, bluster, browbeat, buffalo, bulldoze, coerce, cow, despotize, domineer, dragoon, enforce, harass, hector, lean on, menace, oppress, overbear, persecute, ride roughshod, showboat, swagger, terrorize, threaten, torment, torture, turn on the heat, tyrannize, walk heavy |
Antonyms: |
allow, leave alone |
| Main Entry: | contort |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disfigure, distort |
Synonyms: |
bend, convolute, curve, deform, gnarl, knot, misshape, torture, twist, warp, wind, wrench, writhe |
Antonyms: |
beautify, smooth |
| Main Entry: | crucify |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | execute; torture near to death |
Synonyms: |
excruciate, hang, harrow, kill, martyr, martyrize, nail to cross, persecute, rack, torment, torture |
Antonyms: |
exalt |
| Main Entry: | crucify |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | browbeat, destroy with words |
Synonyms: |
afflict, agonize, bedevil, bother, harrow, ill-treat, lampoon, pan, ridicule, smite, tear to pieces, torment, torture, try, wipe the floor with |
Antonyms: |
compliment, exalt, laud, praise |
| Main Entry: | distort |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | deform; falsify |
Synonyms: |
alter, angle, belie, bend, bias, buckle, change, collapse, color, con, contort, crush, curve, deceive, decline, deteriorate, deviate, disfigure, doctor*, fake, fudge, garble, gnarl, knot, lie, make out like, mangle, melt, misconstrue, misinterpret, misrepresent, misshape, pervert, phony up, put one on, sag, scam*, slant, slump, snow*, torture, trump up, twist, warp, whitewash, wind, wrench, writhe |
Antonyms: |
beautify, shape nicely, straight |
| Main Entry: | distress |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | worry, upset |
Synonyms: |
afflict, aggrieve, agonize, ail, be on one's case, bother, break, bug, burn up, depress, desolate, discombobulate, disquiet, disturb, do a number on, dog*, eat*, get to, get*, give a hard time, grieve, harass, harry, hound, hurt, injure, irk, irritate, make it tough for, miff, nag, needle, nit-pick, oppress, pain, peeve, perplex, pester, pick on, plague, push, push buttons, rack, sadden, strain, strap, stress, tick off, torment, torture, trouble, try, vex, weigh, wound |
Antonyms: |
assist, calm, comfort, help, soothe |
| Main Entry: | gnarled |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | knotted |
Synonyms: |
bent, contorted, crooked, deformed, distorted, gnarly, knurled, leathery, out of shape, rough, rugged, tortured, twisted, weather-beaten, wrinkled |
Antonyms: |
straight, unbent, uncurled, untwisted |