agonizing

American

[ag-uh-nahy-zing] / ˈæg əˌnaɪ zɪŋ /

adjective

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.

Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

agonizingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of agonizing

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The defeat was a second straight for Philadelphia, who were coming off an agonizing loss to NFC East rivals Dallas in which they squandered a 21-0 lead.

From Barron's

In a message on her official X account posted while she was en route to a gathering of world leaders in South Africa, she confessed to agonizing over her wardrobe.

From The Wall Street Journal

I have watched the agonizing decline of a friend of nearly 70 years as she sought a transplant.

From Washington Post

It bothers her when she sees news stories about mass shootings, she said, but she doesn’t see much point in agonizing over the policy implications.

From Washington Post

America and the world woke up on Tuesday morning with an especially agonizing case of déjà-vu: Three children under age 10 and three adults were shot dead yesterday at a Nashville school.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023