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excruciating

[ik-skroo-shee-ey-ting]

adjective

extremely painful; causing intense suffering; unbearably distressing; torturing: an excruciating noise; excruciating pain.

exceedingly elaborate or intense; extreme: done with excruciating care.

Origin:
1655–65; excruciate + -ing²

Related forms

ex·cru·ci·at·ing·ly, adverb

un·ex·cru·ci·at·ing, adjective

Synonyms
1. unbearable, insufferable, unendurable, agonizing, racking.

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Excruciating has a plethora of syllables.

So is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Does it mean:

the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).

an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust, sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language.

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Example Sentences

After hours of excruciating anticipation, the final checks for the space shuttle launching have been made and all systems are go.

The suspense is excruciating.

The songs and arias can be lovely, but the warmups happening every hour are excruciating.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing.

to inflict severe pain upon; torture: The headache excruciated him.

to cause mental anguish to; irritate greatly.

Origin:
1560–70; < Latin excruciātus, past participle of excruciāre to torment, torture, equivalent to ex- ex-¹ + cruciāre to torment, crucify (derivative of crux cross); see -ate¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To excruciating

Collins

World English Dictionary

excruciating (ɪkˈskruːʃɪˌeɪtɪŋ)

—*adj*
1.	unbearably painful; agonizing
2.	intense; extreme: he took excruciating pains to do it well
3.	informal irritating; trying
4.	jocular very bad: an excruciating pun

ex'cruciatingly

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

excruciate

1560s, from L. excruciatus, pp. of excruciare "to torture, torment," from ex- "out, thoroughly" + cruciare "cause pain or anguish to," lit. "crucify," from crux (gen. crucis) "cross." Related: Excruciating; excruciatingly.

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Related Words

anguish painful

sharp torture

Matching Quote

"There are confessable agonies, sufferings of which one can positively be proud. Of bereavement, of parting, of the sense of sin and the fear of death the poets have eloquently spoken. They command the world's sympathy. But there are also discreditable anguishes, no less excruciating than the others, but of which the sufferer dare not, cannot speak. The anguish of thwarted desire, for example."

-Aldous Huxley

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excruciating

ex·cru·ci·at·ing

ex·cru·ci·ate