agonizing

[ag-uh-nahy-zing]

adjective

1. accompanied by, filled with, or resulting in agony or distress.

   We spent an agonizing hour waiting to hear if the accident had been serious or not.

Other Word Forms

• agonizingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of agonizing¹

First recorded in 1660–70; agonize + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Blue Jays manager John Schneider vowed his team would be ready to bounce back despite the agonizing loss.

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When a film so agonizing is immediately followed by empty, uninformative clickbait articles asking “where are they now” questions about still-grieving children, one has to wonder where the line is.

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This is most obvious in the Middle East, with the agonizing ordeal of the surviving Israeli captives coming to a dramatic end this week.

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Deprivation cuts the other way: isolation is “agonizing,” Mr. Rein tells us, “one of the worst fates a human can experience.”

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As officials scoured the site for clues, authorities acknowledged the agonizing wait for the families of those missing.

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Related Words

• excruciating 
• harrowing 
• intense 
• tortuous 

When To Use

What does agonizing mean?

Agonizing means filled with or resulting in agony—extreme pain or suffering, especially the kind that lasts for a long time. A close synonym is excruciating.Agony can be physical or emotional, and things that are agonizing can involve physical or emotional pain. A person who has just broken their leg and a person who has just experienced the death of a loved one could both be said to be in agonizing pain. To suffer an agonizing death is to experience an extremely painful one. An agonizing decision is one that is very hard to make due to being emotionally painful in some way.Agonizing is also the continuous tense (-ing form) of the verb agonize, which can mean to be in agony. However, it most commonly means to put forth a great effort—to struggle or strive, as in She’s been agonizing about what to get you for your birthday. Example: She’s down and appears to be in agonizing pain—the trainers are coming onto the field now to help her.