tormentor

IPA/tɔːˈmentə(r)/
KK[tˈɔrmˌɛntɚ]IPA/tɔːrˈmentər/

tormentor — noun

  • tormentorsingular
  • tormentorsplural

1. a person who deliberately makes someone else suffer, either by causing them emot

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who deliberately makes someone else suffer, either by causing them emotional distress, physical pain, or both, often in a repeated or sustained way

Example

The children told their teacher about their tormentor, a bully who stole their lunch money.

Yumi lived in fear of her tormentor, who sent threatening letters at all hours.

Common collocations
  • childhood tormentor
  • former tormentor
  • cruel tormentor
  • to escape one's tormentor
  • to confront one's tormentor
  • to live in fear of one's tormentor
Synonyms
  • bully

    more informal and specific to repeated aggressive behavior, especially among children or in school settings

  • persecutor

    more formal, often implies systematic oppression targeting someone's identity, beliefs, or background

  • torturer

    more specific, implies the deliberate infliction of physical pain, often in an official or institutional context

Antonyms
  • protector

    someone who keeps another person safe from harm

  • defender

    someone who stands up for or defends another person against attack

Usage Note

Often used with possessive determiners (my, her, his, their) or in the phrase 'the tormentor of [someone]'. More common in formal or literary writing than in everyday conversation.

Common Mistakes

The school has a problem with tormentors.
The school has a problem with bullies.
'tormentor' implies severe, ongoing suffering and is more formal; 'bully' is the everyday word for repeated aggressive behavior.
The prisoner's tormentor waterboarded him.
The prisoner's torturer waterboarded him.
'torturer' is the specific word for someone who inflicts physical torture in an institutional or systematic way; 'tormentor' is broader and includes emotional suffering.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe someone who causes harm to others, but they differ in context and severity. 'Bully' is the most informal and everyday term, used especially for schoolyard or workplace aggression that is repeated but may not be life-threatening. 'Persecutor' implies a more serious, systematic campaign of mistreatment, often targeting someone's race, religion, or political beliefs. 'Torturer' is the narrowest term and refers specifically to the deliberate infliction of physical pain, often in an official interrogation or punishment setting. 'Oppressor' has a political or social meaning, describing a person or group that keeps others in a state of subjugation through power and authority. For example, a school tormentor might be called a bully, while a dictator's secret police who torture and kill citizens would be described as persecutors or oppressors.

bully ↗persecutor ↗tortureroppressor ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • live in fear of one's tormentor
  • escape one's tormentor
  • confront one's tormentor
  • face one's tormentor

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'tormentor' comes from Latin 'tormentum', meaning a twisting instrument or instrument of torture, which itself is related to the verb 'torquere' (to twist). It passed into Old French as 'tormenteor' and then into Middle English as 'tormentour', referring to someone who inflicts suffering. The spelling settled into the modern 'tormentor' in the 16th century.

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1