noun

tormentor

taw-MEHN-tuh

noun

A person, animal, or thing that causes ongoing suffering or distress.

"His younger brother was his childhood tormentor."

"The heat was the runners' biggest tormentor that afternoon."

In theatre, one of a pair of narrow curtains just behind the front curtain that hides the sides of the stage from the audience.

"The stagehand adjusted the tormentors before the lights came up."

How to Use Tormentor

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishSomeone or something that keeps causing you pain, stress, or misery.

Common pairings

childhood tormentor chief tormentor his old tormentor

tormentors plural

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His younger brother was his childhood _____.

From Anglo-Norman tourmentour, going back to Old French tormenteor — the same root as "torment."

mentor inventor