TAWR-men-tid
/ˈtɔˌɹmɛntɪd/
tormented is pronounced TAWR-men-tid (/ˈtɔˌɹmɛntɪd/). Tormented describes someone who experiences intense suffering, distress, or anguish, often due to ongoing mental or emotional strain. It can also refer to causing someone else suffering. The term conveys a vivid sense of pain, turmoil, and harrowing experience, whether emotional, moral, or physical. In usage, it frequently appears in literary or formal contexts to emphasize severity of distress.
Tormented describes someone who experiences intense suffering, distress, or anguish, often due to ongoing mental or emotional strain. It can also refer to causing someone else suffering. The term conveys a vivid sense of pain, turmoil, and harrowing experience, whether emotional, moral, or physical. In usage, it frequently appears in literary or formal contexts to emphasize severity of distress.
"The prisoner recalled the tormented years of isolation that gnawed at his sanity."
"Her tormented conscience finally compelled her to confess the truth."
"The town endured tormented memories of the disaster for generations."
Tormented is pronounced with three syllables: toR- MEN- ted. The primary stress is on MEN. IPA (US/UK/AU): US /ˈtɔr.mɛn.tɪd/, UK /ˈtɔː.mɛn.tɪd/, AU /ˈtɔː.mɛn.tɪd/. The first syllable uses the 'aw' as in 'law' (or 'or' in American), the second syllable has a clear 'men' with a short e, and the final 'ted' is a quick, unstressed ‘tɪd’ ending.
Common errors include misplacing stress (trying to stress the first syllable /ˈtɔr/), pronouncing the middle vowel as a longer 'e' sound like 'tɔːrˈmɛn.teɪd', or eliding the final -ed to 'torment' sounds. Corrections: keep primary stress on MEN, use a short, clipped -ed ending /-ɪd/ or /-ɪd/ depending on accent, and ensure the middle /mɛn/ has a crisp short vowel without lengthening into /eɪ/.
US tends to have /ˈtɔr.mɛn.tɪd/ with rhotic r and a short /ɪ/ in the final syllable. UK often features /ˈtɔː.mɛn.tɪd/ with a longer /ɔː/ in the first syllable and non-rhotic r, while AU mirrors US/UK with /ˈtɔː.mɛn.tɪd/ depending on speaker; rhoticity varies by region, but most educated Australian speech is non-rhotic, so the /r/ is less pronounced unless before a vowel. The /ˈmɛn/ remains consistent, but vowel length and quality can shift subtly.
The difficulty comes from multiple brief phonemes in sequence: the rhotic approximant /ɹ/ in some US dialects, the unstressed but quick final /tɪd/ that can reduce to /tɪd/ or /tɪd/, and keeping the middle /mɛn/ crisp while transitioning from the closed o- or ɔ- vowel in the first syllable to the lax /mɛn/ in the middle. Eye-on-mouth coordination and precise vowel length make it easy to misplace stress or blur the /t/ and /d/ boundaries.
Tormented carries a strong emotional load; ensure the second syllable carries the primary beat, /ˈtɔːr.mɛn.tɪd/ or /ˈtɔː.mɛn.tɪd/ depending on accent, with a crisp /t/ at the end before the /ɪd/ suffix. The 'mɛn' should be short and clipped, not elongated into 'men-ti'. The overall prosody should feel measured and grave to reflect its meaning; avoid a sing-song or too-tight articulation that would undermine the word’s gravity.
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Tormented derives from the verb torment, itself from Old French tormenter, from Latin tormentare, meaning to twist, torture, or artfully harass. The Latin root torment- stems from tormēre, implying severe strain or torture, combined with the -are infinitive suffix in Latin to form tormentare. In English, torment appeared by the 13th century, initially denoting severe pain or suffering, both physical and mental. By the 14th–15th centuries, the sense broadened to describe harrowing emotional distress and coercive torture in a moral or psychological sense. The suffix -ed, used to form the past participle and past tense, indicates a completed or ongoing state of being afflicted. Throughout its evolution, the word has retained a strong emotional charge, often used in literary or formal registers to stress extreme discomfort or agony. Its usage has also extended metaphorically to situations that “torment” one with guilt, doubt, or persistent worry, illustrating the enduring torment of unresolved conflict or trauma.
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Words that rhyme with "tormented"
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