torturous

pertains to suffering: We toil in the torturous heat.

Not to be confused with:

tortuous – circuitous; devious; full of twists, turns, or bends: a tortuous road up the mountain

tor·tur·ous

(tôr′chər-əs)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or causing torture.

2. Twisted; strained. See Usage Note at tortuous.

tor′tur·ous·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tor•tur•ous

(ˈtɔr tʃər əs)

adj.

pertaining to, involving, or causing torture or suffering.

[1490–1500; < Anglo-French; Old French tortureus. See torture, -ous]

tor′tur•ous•ly, adv.

usage: torturous refers specifically to what involves or causes pain or suffering: prisoners working in the torturous heat; torturous memories of past injustice. Some speakers and writers use torturous for tortuous, esp. in the senses “twisting, winding” and “convoluted”: a torturous road; torturous descriptions. There can often be semantic overlap between these words, since, for example, a tortuous (winding) road may be considered torturous (painful) to navigate. Nonetheless, they are usually considered different words whose meanings should be kept distinct: a tortuous (twisting) road; tortuous (convoluted) descriptions; torturous (painful) treatments.

tortuous, torturous - Tortuous is "winding, crooked, full of twists and turns," and torturous, based on "torture," is "painful, characterized by suffering."

torturous

adjective see tortuous

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

torturous

adjective

Extraordinarily painful or distressing:

agonizing, anguishing, excruciating, harrowing, tormenting.

Translations

βασανιστικός

torturous

adj → qualvoll

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

My anxiety is becoming positively torturous. Nevertheless, I send you thirty kopecks-- almost the last coins that I have left to me, much as I should have liked to have helped you more when you are so much in need.

View in context

According to reporter, the octogenarian leader in a statement issued in Srinagar said that he had willingly adopted the torturous and thorny path of pursuing the movement for the basic rights of his people and no power on earth could deter him from this holy mission.

Gilani unveils Delhi's pressure tactics

The summer season is always very torturous for the entire locality, they say.

XEN asked to change transformer

Hence, it may be apt to say that the person who shot her son actually contributed to two deaths: one, her son's and two, hers through a slow, torturous death.

Roohi Bano

Because of their seemingly bad behaviour caused by their torturous conditions, people will often condemn them to living in dark corners, in basements or on balconies all the while locked inside of cages.

Caging birds

After the meeting I was greeted with an email detailing the differences between "tortuous" and "torturous."

A tortuous explanation of a torturous encounter

figure By WAIKWA MAINAbr A torturous paradise, these were the words of a team of investigators who climbedthe Elephant Hill in the Aberdares onMonday to retrieve the wreckage of the Cessna C208 aircraft that crashed last week claiming ten lives two pilots, eight passengers.It took five hours of torturous trekking by the team led by Mr Martin Miguto from the homicide department to arrive at the hills peak, the scene of the accident.

Torturous five hours to Aberdares crash scene

It was tough to watch, though, as the sides fought it out to the death and for Leinster's head coach, it made for "torturous" viewing int the last quarter.

Leo happy to leave Bilbao a Cullen card

The attitude of school administration is quite unethical rather torturous as the father was out of city and it is humanly impossible to pay fee within night where school, banks are closed.

Educator School Malir setting new example of mental torture to parents

An increase in the hours of load-shedding is torturous for both the commercial and residential consumers of K-Electric.

New style of load-shedding?

After a torturous journey, the writer of the serial Noor Ul Huda seemed to lose track and finished the story with a happy ending, making it more of a sit-com than serious stuff.

Losing Track

So it would be torturous, because I would have to post images.

Thrones star's troll agony