Tantalize vs Torture - What's the difference?
tantalize | torture |
to tease (someone) by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach
to bait (someone) by showing something desirable but leaving them unsatisfied
Intentional causing of somebody's experiencing agony.
(chiefly, literary) The "suffering of the heart" imposed by one on another, as in personal relationships.
To intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering on (someone).
As verbs the difference between tantalize and torture
is that tantalize is to tease (someone) by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach while torture is .tantalize
English
Verb
(tantaliz)Quotations
* 1880 — *: They could not bear to be tantalized nor tortured by the splendid delusion. * 1884 — , section 22 *: All pleasures palled upon me; all sights tantalized and tempted me to outspoken treason, because I could not but compare what I saw in Two Dimensions with what it really was if seen in Three, and could hardly refrain from making my comparisons aloud. * 1895 — , Ch. XV *: He had been possessed of much fear of his friend, for he saw how easily questionings could make holes in his feelings. Lately, he had assured himself that the altered comrade would not tantalize him with a persistent curiosity, but he felt certain that during the first period of leisure his friend would ask him to relate his adventures of the previous day. * *: “It was—simply amazing,” she repeated abstractedly. “But I swore I wouldn’t tell it and here I am tantalizing you.” * 1936 — , Ch. IX *: As we threaded our dim way through the labyrinth with the aid of map and compass ... we were repeatedly tantalized by the sculptured walls along our route. ... If we had had more films, we would certainly have paused briefly to photograph certain bas-reliefs, but time-consuming hand-copying was clearly out of the question.torture
English
(wikipedia torture)Noun
(en noun)- Using large dogs to attack bound, hand-cuffed prisoners is clearly torture .
- In every war there are acts of torture that cause the world to shudder.
- People confess to anything under torture .
- Every time she says 'goodbye' it is torture !
Derived terms
* torture chamber *Verb
(tortur)- People who torture often have sadistic tendencies.