agonize
Americanverb (used without object)
-
agonizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
agonized,
past participle, past
-
agonizing
present participle
-
to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in agony.
-
to put forth great effort of any kind.
verb (used with object)
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agonizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
agonized,
past participle, past
-
agonizing
present participle
verb
-
to suffer or cause to suffer agony
-
(intr) to make a desperate effort; struggle; strive
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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agonizesimple
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agonizessimple
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have agonizedperfect
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has agonizedperfect
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am agonizingprogressive
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are agonizingprogressive
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is agonizingprogressive
-
have been agonizingperfect progressive
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has been agonizingperfect progressive
Past
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agonizedsimple
-
had agonizedperfect
-
was agonizingprogressive
-
were agonizingprogressive
-
had been agonizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of agonize
1575–85; < Medieval Latin agōnizāre < Greek agōnízesthai to struggle (for a prize), equivalent to agōn- agon + -izesthai -ize
Explanation
When you worry excessively about something, you agonize about it. The mother of a teenage boy might agonize over his safety when he first learns to drive. Agonize can mean to suffer true pain, but it's generally a mental type of anguish. A student might agonize over what to wear the first day of school, and a boss might agonize about how to break the bad news about layoffs to her employees. The earliest meaning of agonize was "to torture," though now it means something closer to "to torture one's self." The Greek root is a grand one: agonizesthai, "to contend in the struggle."
Vocabulary lists containing agonize
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
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An American Plague
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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.
See Examples For:
This way, we wouldn’t have to agonize over every ride and could even hop aboard to cross the Grand Canal without having to walk to the nearest bridge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
“I used to agonize over things. I worry a lot less today. You realize that what shows up in the process, that might take you by surprise, is often better than what you’d planned for.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
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
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
In 1415, on the eve of challenging France at the Battle of Agincourt, he agonizes about the moral burdens of kingship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
In another, a girl agonizes while her 10-year-old sister buys a maroon lifeguard hoodie.
From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
Lately, she agonizes over what she doesn’t know.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2023
When semaglutide agonizes these receptors, it tells the body to make more insulin.
From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2022
While he agonizes over song choice, I watch the K-pop videos playing on the television.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Do I even have a future? she agonized on loop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Faisuris Alvarez, who runs a beachside fish stand, agonized aloud over these questions without answers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
All week I’d agonized about what movie would be my emotionally laden farewell salute.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Inside, she loaded up on cosmetics and agonized over the instant noodles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
She agonized a bit over the hijab, its being green and not matching the dress, but it would have to do—moths had eaten holes into her white one.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Among them are white male entitlement versus the crushing demands of Black exceptionalism; the complicated bond linking fathers to sons; and the agonizing bravery required of mothers raising boys the world is conditioned to ostracize.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
DiFeo, the Cadillac dealer, faces what he describes as an agonizing wait for fresh models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Collins stood outside for several agonizing minutes, hearing their muffled voices.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Inside, under flickering lights, a group of reluctant strangers is coaxed into acting out, in a converted gymnasium, a wild tale promising redemption from agonizing tragedy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
She seemed to be agonizing over a decision.
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
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.
