excruciate

Excruciate is a transitive verb meaning to cause extreme physical or mental suffering, or to torment severely. It can describe actions that inflict pain on someone else or experiences that produce intense distress. The related adjective excruciating is more commonly used to describe pain or agony, as in excruciating pain.

Etymology: The word derives from Latin excruciare, meaning "to torture," from ex- (out) + cruciare (to torment), related to cruc- (cross). The term originally carried the sense of torture associated with crucifixion, but in modern usage is largely metaphorical.

Usage: Excruciate often denotes severe torment inflicted by another person or by circumstances, but it is relatively formal and less common in casual speech. In everyday English, people typically say something causes excruciating pain or agony, or that someone is being excruciated by questions or waiting. The verb can take direct objects in contexts such as "to excruciate the prisoner with questions," though more common verbs include torture, torment, or rack. The noun excruciation refers to the state or instance of extreme suffering.

See also: excruciating, torture, torment, pain, agony, crucifixion.