tormentor

/ˈtɔrmɛntər/

/ˈtɔmɛntə/

Other forms: tormentors

A tormentor is someone who terrorizes another person, deliberately making them suffer. If your sister keeps tickling you after you desperately beg her not to, feel free to call her your tormentor.

A tormentor is a person who torments, and both words are strongly related to torture — they share a root that means "to twist." A tormentor doesn't torture once, though, but inflicts pain over a long period of time. While tormentor is often used in a light-hearted way, as when you say your devilish new kitten is your Great Dane's tormentor, it can also be used with reference to serious situations.

Definitions of tormentor

1. noun

   someone who torments
   synonyms: persecutor, tormenter

   types:

   harasser

   a persistent tormentor

   blighter, cuss, gadfly, pest, pesterer

   a persistently annoying person

   tantaliser, tantalizer

   someone who tantalizes; a tormentor who offers something desirable but keeps it just out of reach

   witch-hunter

   someone who identifies and punishes people for their opinions

   nudnick, nudnik

   (Yiddish) someone who is a boring pest

   type of:

   oppressor

   a person of authority who subjects others to undue pressures
2. noun

   a flat at each side of the stage to prevent the audience from seeing into the wings
   synonyms: teaser, tormenter

   type of:

   flat

   scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting