excruciating

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

excruciating

/ɪkˈskɹuːʃi.eɪtɪŋ/ UK
/ɪkˈskɹʉwʃɪjɛjtɪŋ/ British, Southern, Standard
/ɪkˈskɹuːʃi.eɪtɪŋɡ/ Midlands, Northern England, UK
/ɪkˈskɾʉʃi.etɪŋ/ Scotland, UK
/ɪkˈskɾɪʊʃi.eːtɪŋ/ UK, Wales
/ɪkˈskɹuʃi.eɪtɪŋ/ US
/ək-/ US
/əkˈskɹʉːʃi.æɪtɪŋ/ Australia
/əkˈskɹʉːʃi.æɪtəŋ/ New Zealand
[əkˈskɹʉːʃi.æɪtɪŋ] New Zealand

Where it comes from

Present participle of excruciate, from Latin excruciō, from ex- + cruciō (“to torment”).

adjective more excruciating · most excruciating

Causing great pain or anguish, agonizing Sagan faced an excruciating dilemma: Should he remain true to his naturalistic philosophy and reject the marrow graft as something acquired by immoral means? Or should he agree to undergo the medical treatment in hope of saving his life
Similar: lacerating, poignant
Exceedingly intense; extreme When he at last opened his eyes, he was conscious of nothing but an excruciating pain through his temples. He was vaguely aware of unfamiliar surroundings.

Similar: searing

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: agonizing, harrowing, painful, torturing, torturesome, torturous, agonising, horrifying, bitter, horrible, gruesome, horrific, dreadful, brutal, terrible, appalling

adjective

Similar: searing

Translations

Every language

adj Causing great pain or anguish, agonizing

Español	lacerante, insoportable, espantoso, excruciante
Português	excruciante
Français	insoutenable, atroce, terrible
Deutsch	quälend, unerträglich, qualvoll
Italiano	atroce, straziante, lancinante
Русский	мучи́тельный mučítelʹnyj

adj Very intense; extreme

Español	insoportable

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"excruciating." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/excruciating. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

excruciating. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/excruciating

Chicago

"excruciating." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/excruciating.

BibTeX

@misc{excruciating_2026,
  title = {excruciating},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/excruciating},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}