Word · CEFR B2 · Frequency #7091
torture
酷刑；拷问
The act of deliberately inflicting severe pain, especially as punishment or to obtain information; also a method or device used for this.
尤指作为惩罚或逼供手段；复数形式可指拷打器械或方法。
- 1.
The infliction of severe pain or anguish, especially as an interrogation technique or punishment; (usually in the plural) a technique, method, or device which is designed to inflict such anguish.
施加剧烈痛苦,尤指审讯或惩罚手段；通常用复数形式指代造成这种痛苦的技巧、方法或装置。
- 2.
extreme mental distress
极度的精神痛苦
- 3.
Severe pain or anguish, of mind or body.
身心上的剧烈痛苦。
- 4.
unbearable physical pain
难以忍受的身体疼痛
- 5.
An unpleasant sensation or its infliction: embarrassment, heartache, etc.
令人不快的感觉或其施加,如尴尬、心痛等。
- 6.
intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
强烈的痛苦感受；剧烈的精神或身体疼痛
极度的痛苦；折磨；煎熬；令人痛苦的事；施加剧烈痛苦,尤指审讯或惩罚手段；通常用复数形式指代造成这种痛苦的技巧、方法或装置。；极度的精神痛苦；身心上的剧烈痛苦。
In use
Waiting for the test results was pure torture for the whole family.
The pain from his injured back was torture, and he could barely sleep.
Listening to that boring lecture was one of the worst tortures I have ever experienced.
Connections
Collocations
- physical torture
- 身体上的酷刑；肉体折磨
- The prisoners were subjected to physical torture.囚犯们遭受了身体上的酷刑。
- mental torture
- 精神折磨；心理折磨
- The uncertainty was pure mental torture.这种不确定性简直是一种精神折磨。
- instruments of torture
- 刑具
- The museum displays medieval instruments of torture.这座博物馆展出了中世纪的刑具。
- torture chamber
- 刑讯室；拷问室
- The soldiers discovered a hidden torture chamber.士兵们发现了一个隐藏的刑讯室。
- under torture
- 在酷刑下；在折磨下
- He made a false confession under torture.他在酷刑下作了虚假的招供。
- use torture
Learner notes
Memory Tip
记忆联想：torture 里的 tort 像 tore（撕裂），酷刑就是撕裂般的极度痛苦。
Context & Register
语域：mixed 常见场景：legal or news reporting、everyday speech (hyperbole) torture 作名词时，字面义（酷刑、拷打）通常出现在法律、新闻等较正式语境；口语中也常用作夸张说法，表示极其难受或痛苦的事情。实际语气需看搭配和语境。
Grammar Note
通常不可数，但在指代具体折磨形式时可数
Pronunciation & Spelling
These words all end in the letters -ture, so they look like torture, but none rhymes exactly with it. In torture the first syllable is stressed and contains /ɔr/ (or /ɔː/), while culture, lecture, nature, picture, structure, and capture have different stressed vowels. So treat the shared spelling as a visual clue only, not a sound guide.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 3，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.