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
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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:
That gave staffers roughly a month to agonize over whether they would be on the list, some of them in public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Oh, the visitors will agonize over some of the bizarre calls, some deserving of further explanation from the NFL.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 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
I was afraid I’d deliberate, ruminate, agonize, rationalize, and talk myself into not going.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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
Admittedly, he agonizes over defeat more than he celebrates victory.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2024
In another, a girl agonizes while her 10-year-old sister buys a maroon lifeguard hoodie.
From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
Tellez left Citrus College in October 2020 and still agonizes over the decision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 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
“I agonized for a long time over whether to keep that job,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Faisuris Alvarez, who runs a beachside fish stand, agonized aloud over these questions without answers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Inside, she loaded up on cosmetics and agonized over the instant noodles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
“That’s what agonized him so much — that when you record things, they are forever.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2025
Laughter by the boys, an agonized cry by Rosetta.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
“It was agonizing and just felt to learn this is beyond me,” Mandell told The Times in 2007.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
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
Collins stood outside for several agonizing minutes, hearing their muffled voices.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Pancreatic cancer has long been an agonizing death sentence, but it could be commuted by novel treatments and earlier detection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
I feel an agonizing twist in my heart.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
