excruciate
/ɪkˈskɹuʃieɪ̯t/
excruciate means excruciated; tortured. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
excruciate is pronounced /ɪkˈskɹuʃieɪ̯t/.
Why “excruciate” is a great word
EXCRUCIATE — [Verb, Adjective] To inflict or be in a state of intense physical pain or mental torment. From Latin excruciātus, past participle of excruciō, from ex- (intensive prefix) + cruciō ("to torment, crucify"), from crux ("cross"). First attested in English in the 1560s. Unlike torment, which implies prolonged harassment, or distress, which denotes anxiety, to excruciate is to enact a pain of crucifixion-like extremity: the white-hot focus of a shattered bone, the psychological vise of an irrevocable regret, the specific agony of a body stretched beyond its design. It is the human capacity to translate an ancient instrument of public execution into a private, intimate crucifixion.
Etymology
From Latin excruciātus, past participle of excruciō, from ex- + cruciō, from the base of crux (“cross”).
adj
- Excruciated; tortured.“1616, George Chapman's translation of Homer's Odyssey
And here my heart long time excruciate
Amongst the leaves I rested all that night.”
verb
- To inflict intense pain or mental distress on (someone); to torture.“But this it is that doth excruciate
The verie ſubſtance of my vexed ſoule:
To ſee our neighbours that were wont to quake
And tremble at the Perſean Monarkes name,
Now ſits and laughs our regiment to ſcorne, […]”