agonize

[ ag-uh-nahyz ]

/ ˈæg əˌnaɪz /

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See synonyms for: agonize / agonized / agonizing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), ag·o·nized, ag·o·niz·ing.

to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in agony.

to put forth great effort of any kind.

verb (used with object), ag·o·nized, ag·o·niz·ing.

to distress with extreme pain; torture.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Also especially British, ag·o·nise .

Origin of agonize

1575–85; <Medieval Latin agōnizāre<Greek agōnízesthai to struggle (for a prize), equivalent to agōn-agon + -izesthai-ize

Words nearby agonize

a goner, agonic, agonic line, agonist, agonistic, agonize, agonized, agonizing, agony, agony aunt, agony column

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use agonize in a sentence

She agonizes over the fact that Heidi worried at the beginning of the pandemic that she might not survive if she contracted the coronavirus, although she had no known health complications.
‘I said goodbye to my sister through a computer screen’|Holly Bailey|January 2, 2021|Washington Post
If you’re agonizing over the speed of your metabolism, you’re probably focused on how much energy you’re getting from the foods you eat and how much your body is using.
Some people can eat anything and not gain a pound. How metabolism affects the calories you burn each day.|Terezie Tolar-Peterson|January 2, 2021|Washington Post
I had spent the last year agonizing over the data, observing and asking questions.
An Existential Crisis in Neuroscience - Issue 94: Evolving|Grigori Guitchounts|December 30, 2020|Nautilus
For months, parents, coaches and health officers across the region and throughout the country have agonized over the risks of young athletes taking the field or the court in the midst of a pandemic.
After telling more than 800 athletes and coaches to quarantine, a county halts youth sports|Ovetta Wiggins|November 30, 2020|Washington Post

If you imagine, agonize, and stew about worst-case scenarios, it actually forces your brain to live every dark and scary situation you can conjure up.
What mental health professionals have learned six months into pandemic care|Marion Renault|October 8, 2020|Popular-Science
The key is how much we can brood, and what is meant by brooding—is it to daydream, or is it to agonize over every detail?
‘True Detective,’ Obsessive-Compulsive Noir, and ‘Twin Peaks’|Jimmy So|March 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The revenge factor would have been an added bonus, but really, what I wanted was for people to agonize over why I'd done it.
I Was Adam Lanza, Part 3|David Frum|December 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Parents stood up to agonize about their responsibility, as cosigners, for the loans of their now unemployed offspring.
NYU Professor: Are Student Loans Immoral?|Andrew Ross|September 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Too far gone to agonize in prayer, I could only quietly, almost mutely, just tell him how the poor child had no clothes.
How I Know God Answers Prayer|Rosalind Goforth
Yet, dying, I agonize to live, and fear to drink the last drop of that bitter cup.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern Volume 11|Various
Here now you shall agonize unheeded: gaolers and governors as well as black cells just to teach you.
Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (of 2)|Frank Harris
Let who will sweat and agonize for the sake of a new truth, or a newer and purer form of an old one.
Diana Tempest, Volume II (of 3)|Mary Cholmondeley
It has not a single social problem around which the characters move and argue and agonize.
The Golden Bird|Maria Thompson Daviess

British Dictionary definitions for agonize

agonize

agonise

/ (ˈæɡəˌnaɪz) /

verb

to suffer or cause to suffer agony

(intr) to make a desperate effort; struggle; strive

Derived forms of agonize

agonizingly or agonisingly, adverb

Word Origin for agonize

C16: via Medieval Latin from Greek agōnizesthai to contend for a prize, from agōn agon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

agonize

Origin of agonize

Words nearby agonize

Words related to agonize

How to use agonize in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for agonize

agonise

Derived forms of agonize

Word Origin for agonize