excruciating

excruciating: excruciating, agonizing, racking mean intensely and, usually, unbearably painful. All are commonly used as strong intensives and applied to pain, suffering, and torture. When used to qualify other things, they mean causing intense pain or suffering.

Excruciating carries strong suggestions of acute physical torture or of exquisitely painful sensation

{
suffered excruciating pain from an abscessed tooth
}

{
excruciating noises
}

{
the hearty merrymakings of the population at large were an excruciating torment to narrow-minded folk— Amer. Guide Series: Md.
}

Agonizing stresses anguish of mind even when it strongly implies physical suffering

{
an agonizing spasm of pain—a memento mori—shot through me and passed away— W. J. Locke
}

{
lives there a man so firm, who, while his heart feels all the bitter horror of his crime, can reason down its agonizing throbs— Burns
}

Racking suggests sensations of pulling and straining and tearing comparable to those suffered by a person on the rack

{
racking pains in the chest
}

{
a racking headache
}

{
racking doubts
}

Analogous words: torturing, tormenting, racking (see AFFLICT): *intense, vehement, fierce, exquisite, violent

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Synonyms:

Torturing, tormenting, agonizing, very painful

Look at other dictionaries:

Excruciating — Ex*cru ci*a ting Torturing; racking. Excruciating pain. V. Knox. Excruciating fears. Bentley {Ex*cru ci*a ting*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
excruciating — [eks kro͞o′shəmat′iŋ, ik skro͞o′shēāt΄iŋ] adj. 1. causing intense physical or mental pain; agonizing 2. intense or extreme [with excruciating attention to detail] excruciatingly adv … English World dictionary
excruciating — index caustic, insufferable, painful, severe Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
excruciating — 1590s, prp. adj. from EXCRUCIATE (Cf. excruciate). Related: Excruciatingly … Etymology dictionary
excruciating — [adj] torturous, painful acute, agonizing, burning, chastening, consuming, exquisite, extreme, grueling, harrowing, insufferable, intense, piercing, punishing, racking, rending, searing, severe, sharp, shooting, stabbing, tearing, tormenting,… … New thesaurus
excruciating — ► ADJECTIVE 1) intensely painful. 2) very embarrassing, awkward, or tedious. DERIVATIVES excruciatingly adverb. ORIGIN from Latin excruciare torment , from crux a cross … English terms dictionary
excruciating — [[t]ɪkskru͟ːʃieɪtɪŋ[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED (emphasis) If you describe something as excruciating, you are emphasizing that it is extremely painful, either physically or emotionally. I was in excruciating pain and one leg wouldn t move... Her search… … English dictionary
excruciating — excruciatingly, adv. /ik skrooh shee ay ting/, adj. 1. extremely painful; causing intense suffering; unbearably distressing; torturing: an excruciating noise; excruciating pain. 2. exceedingly elaborate or intense; extreme: done with excruciating … Universalium
excruciating — ex|cru|ci|at|ing [ıkˈskru:ʃieıtıŋ] adj [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: excruciate to cause great pain to (16 21 centuries), from Latin excruciare, from cruciare to crucify , from crux cross ] 1.) extremely painful ▪ When I bend my arm, the pain is… … Dictionary of contemporary English
excruciating — ex|cru|ci|at|ing [ ık skruʃi,eıtıŋ ] adjective 1. ) causing extreme physical pain: I tried to move my leg, but the pain was excruciating. She suffered from excruciating headaches. 2. ) used for emphasizing how bad something is: a moment of… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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excruciating

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