Torturous means so painful or so unpleasant that going through it feels like torture. It is a strong word, and it is usually an exaggeration — people say it about long meetings, hot afternoons, boring films, slow queues, and bad exams. "A torturous three-hour lecture." Occasionally it is literal, about real physical suffering, and then it is very heavy indeed.

Torturous meanstorturous的意思是 so painful or so unpleasant that going through it feels like torture痛苦或難受到經歷起來就像被折磨一樣。It is a strong word這是一個很強烈的字, and it is usually an exaggeration通常是誇張的說法 — people say it about long meetings, hot afternoons, boring films, slow queues, and bad exams大家會用來形容冗長的會議、悶熱的下午、無聊的電影、排隊排很久、還有考得很爛的考試。"A torturous three-hour lecture."像'A torturous three-hour lecture'（一場折磨人的三小時演講） Occasionally it is literal, about real physical suffering偶爾它是照字面意思，指真正的身體痛苦, and then it is very heavy indeed那時候這個字就非常沉重了。

The important thing is the confusion with TORTUOUS, which is spelled almost the same but has no r in the middle of the second part: tor-tu-ous. Tortuous means full of twists and bends — a tortuous mountain road, a tortuous explanation that never gets to the point.

The important thing is the confusion with TORTUOUS重要的是它跟TORTUOUS很容易搞混, which is spelled almost the same兩個字拼法幾乎一樣 but has no r in the middle of the second part但TORTUOUS的第二部分中間沒有r: tor-tu-oustor-tu-ous。Tortuous means full of twists and bendstortuous的意思是充滿轉折彎曲 — a tortuous mountain road像tortuous mountain road（彎彎曲曲的山路）, a tortuous explanation that never gets to the pointtortuous explanation（一直繞不到重點的解釋）。

Torturous means it hurt. A tortuous road has many curves; a torturous road journey made you want to cry. They do come from the same twisting Latin root, and that is exactly why they are so easy to mix up. Even native English writers get them wrong, and newspapers correct it constantly.

Torturous means it hurttorturous的意思是它讓人痛苦。A tortuous road has many curvestortuous road（彎曲的道路）指彎很多; a torturous road journey made you want to crytorturous road journey（折磨人的公路旅程）則是讓你痛苦到想哭。They do come from the same twisting Latin root它們確實是來自同一個帶有「扭轉」意思的拉丁字根, and that is exactly why they are so easy to mix up這也正是它們這麼容易被搞混的原因。Even native English writers get them wrong就連英文母語的作者都會寫錯, and newspapers correct it constantly報紙也不斷在更正這個錯誤。

If you want to be safe: think TORTURE inside TORTUROUS. If the pain is there, the r is there. Stress it on the first part: TOR-cher-us.

If you want to be safe如果想保險一點: think TORTURE inside TORTUROUS記住TORTUROUS裡面藏著TORTURE（酷刑）這個字。If the pain is there如果有「痛苦」, the r is there就會有那個r。Stress it on the first part重音放在第一部分: TOR-cher-usTOR-cher-us。

One more thing — because it is so strong, it can sound dramatic. If a student writes "the homework was torturous", it works as a joke or as a complaint among friends, but in formal writing it will read as over-the-top. "Extremely difficult" is calmer.

One more thing還有一點 — because it is so strong因為這個字語氣很強, it can sound dramatic聽起來可能會有點誇張、戲劇化。If a student writes "the homework was torturous"如果一個學生寫'the homework was torturous'（作業超痛苦）, it works as a joke or as a complaint among friends拿來跟朋友開玩笑或抱怨是可以的, but in formal writing it will read as over-the-top但用在正式寫作裡就會顯得太誇張。"Extremely difficult"'Extremely difficult'（非常困難） is calmer語氣就平和多了。