- unbearably painful; agonizing
- intense; extreme: he took excruciating pains to do it well
- informal irritating; trying
- jocular very bad: an excruciating pun
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ex•cru•ci•at•ing /ɪkˈskruʃiˌeɪtɪŋ/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- causing intense suffering;
tormenting: excruciating pain.
ex•cru•ci•at•ing
(ik skro̅o̅′shē ā′ting),USA pronunciation adj.
ex•cru′ci•at′ing•ly, adv.
- extremely painful;
causing intense suffering;
unbearably distressing;
torturing:an excruciating noise; excruciating pain. - exceedingly elaborate or intense;
extreme:done with excruciating care.
- excruciate + -ing2 1655–65
- 1. . unbearable, insufferable, unendurable, agonizing, racking.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
excruciating /ɪkˈskruːʃɪˌeɪtɪŋ/ adj
ex•cru•ci•ate
(ik skro̅o̅′shē āt′),USA pronunciation v.t., -at•ed, -at•ing.
- to inflict severe pain upon;
torture:The headache excruciated him. - to cause mental anguish to;
irritate greatly.
- Latin excruciātus, past participle of excruciāre to torment, torture, equivalent. to ex- ex-1 + cruciāre to torment, crucify (derivative of crux cross); see ate1
- 1560–70
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
excruciate /ɪkˈskruːʃɪˌeɪt/ vb (transitive)
- to inflict mental suffering on; torment
- obsolete to inflict physical pain on; torture
'excruciating' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):