agonize
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in agony.
-
to put forth great effort of any kind.
verb (used with object)
verb
-
to suffer or cause to suffer agony
-
(intr) to make a desperate effort; struggle; strive
Other Word Forms
- agonizingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of agonize
1575–85; < Medieval Latin agōnizāre < Greek agōnízesthai to struggle (for a prize), equivalent to agōn- agon + -izesthai -ize
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.
Refusing even a hint of introspection, she added: “We don’t agonize over what happened. We organize about what comes next.”
From Slate • Nov. 15, 2024
When they wed, their fans swoon; when stars divorce, people agonize over what went wrong.
From Salon • Jan. 5, 2024
Given his anguish about America’s deploying his nuclear weapon in 1945, I suspect “Oppie” would also agonize about his ownership of our current geologic time period.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 3, 2023
Other families agonize over the unknown: Is my son alive?
From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2023
He was by nature a decisive man, and although this was one of the great decisions of his life and he knew it, he made it quickly and did not agonize over it.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
