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.
So for the new owner of a franchise that agonized for nearly 40 years before its first Super Bowl and another 12 until its second, the wait for a third championship could be considerably shorter.
He faced an agonizing 20-minute wait on the 18th fairway as Jacob Bridgeman, in the preceding group, played a shot from the beach that cracked off a cliff and back into the ocean.
From Barron's
“The victim’s family has waited for an agonizing 30 years to get that call to let them know their loved one’s killer had been found and charged,” said Los Angeles County Dist.
From Los Angeles Times
Like there was a dark cloud of rank, revolting air around me that no one wanted to penetrate for fear of excruciating pain or agonizing injury.
From Literature
When Murphy’s desperate friends finally found him and dug him out after 18 agonizing minutes, he was blue and not breathing, according to witnesses.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
