torturous
tor·tur·ous/ˈtɔɹt͡ʃəɹəs/adjective
torturous is spelled T-O-R-T-U-R-O-U-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables (tor·tur·ous). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, torturous means “Of or pertaining to torture” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in torturous?
| Letters | 9: T-O-R-T-U-R-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: tor·tur·ous |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,775th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is torturous?
Torturous appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce torturous?
- US /ˈtɔɹt͡ʃəɹəs/
- UK /ˈtɔːt͡ʃəɹəs/
Torturous has 3 syllables, split tor·tur·ous in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-torturous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of torturous
- more torturous comparative
- most torturous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does torturous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to torture.
- 2
Painful, excruciating, torturing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Torturous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | torturador, torturante, torturoso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does torturous come from?
From Middle English torterous, from Anglo-Norman torturous, from Old French tortureus, from Latin tortūra. By surface analysis, torture + -ous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).