agonized

[ag-uh-nahyzd]

adjective

1. involving or accompanied by agony or severe struggle.

   an agonized effort.

Other Word Forms

• agonizedly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of agonized¹

First recorded in 1575–85; agonize + -ed ²

Example Sentences

She handed Penelope what was left of the society page of the Times, which of course Penelope had not seen, as it had been in Lady Constance’s agonized clutches since the moment it arrived.

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He agonized over the couple’s son, who had just witnessed his mother’s violent death, and vowed not to cheat the law with “subterfuge.”

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“That’s what agonized him so much — that when you record things, they are forever.”

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That triggered another fraught process as board members agonized over the structure of a deal that would reward rank-and-file shareholders — not just the Redstones.

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She agonized over what it would sound like.

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Related Words

• appalling 
• awful 
• calamitous 
• deplorable 
• disappointing 
• disastrous 
• dreadful 
• feeble 
• grim 
• lamentable 
• lousy 
• miserable 
• paltry 
• pathetic 
• pitiful 
• shocking 
• sorry 
• wretched