From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishexcruciatingex‧cru‧ci‧at‧ing /ɪkˈskruːʃieɪtɪŋ/ adjective 1 MIHURT/CAUSE PAINextremely painful SYN painful When I bend my arm, the pain is excruciating.2 UNPLEASANTif something is excruciating, it is extremely unpleasant, for example because it is boring or embarrassing SYN agonizing Helen described the events of the night before in excruciating detail. —excruciatingly adverb His poetry is excruciatingly bad.
Examples from the Corpus
excruciating• The pain in my knee was excruciating.• From David's point of view the yuletide festival was excruciating.• Searing, excruciating agony ripped through his hand and up his arm until it seemed to engulf his entire body.• Because a screenplay has to specify everything in excruciating detail, it is almost as tedious to read as to write.• Witnesses described the brutal attack in excruciating detail.• She groaned, suffering all over again the excruciating embarrassment of those moments.• The ambassador opened the gift in front of all his guests - and the box was empty! It was the most excruciating moment of my life.• Their crews are prostrate in the shade, trying to escape the excruciating, oven heat.• After rolling on the sand in excruciating pain until stars lit up the sky, he relieved himself for a good half-hour.• The next few years were marked by excruciating poverty.• Councils charged with caring for the public interest start to panic at the thought of this oversized weed with its excruciating sap.• There followed an excruciating silence that lasted for at least a minute.Origin excruciating (1500-1600) excruciate “to cause great pain to” ((16-21 centuries)), from Latin excruciare, from cruciare “to crucify”, from crux “cross” 