agonizing

[ag-uh-nahy-zing]

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adjective

accompanied by, filled with, or resulting in agony or distress: We spent an agonizing hour waiting to hear if the accident had been serious or not.

Origin of agonizing

First recorded in 1660–70; agonize + -ing²

Related formsag·o·niz·ing·ly, adverb

agonize

[ag-uh-nahyz]

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.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for agonizing

tortuous, harrowing, intense, excruciating, tormenting, disturbing, torturing, racking, struggling, tearing, extreme, fierce, vehement, violent

Examples from the Web for agonizing

Contemporary Examples of agonizing

He makes his way, step by agonizing step, his face red and wheezing, his eyes straight ahead.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
What followed was an agonizing spectacle that ended when Lockett died at 7.06 p.m.—43 minutes after the drugs began to flow.
Lethal Injection Leads to the Most Botched Executions
Austin Sarat, Robert Henry Weaver, Heather Richard
April 30, 2014
It catalogues a massive but doomed police investigation through its agonizing near-misses and mistaken hunches.
A Horror Story of True-Life Anti-Semitism in France
Tracy McNicoll
April 28, 2014
But it serves no one to perpetuate the idea that parenting is supposed to be an agonizing and thankless slog.
Ad's Message to Moms: If You Don’t Think Parenting Sucks, You’re Doing it Wrong
Andy Hinds
April 18, 2014
The opposition is afraid of the past because its revered members are culpable for some of the most agonizing memories it evokes.
Bangladesh’s Radical Islamists Get U.S. Backing
Kapil Komireddi
January 12, 2014

Historical Examples of agonizing

Take a very common instance of this agonizing incompatibility.
A Treatise on Parents and Children
George Bernard Shaw
The thirst of the snow fields is most agonizing, and can only be likened to the thirst of the desert.
The Long Labrador Trail
Dillon Wallace
But where was the mother during these fearful and agonizing moments!
Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 6 June 1848
Various
Nan, agonizing in her suspense, cried out she must join him and go with him if he went.
Nan of Music Mountain
Frank H. Spearman
The struggle was fearful and agonizing, but the victory triumphant.
Ernest Linwood
Caroline Lee Hentz

British Dictionary definitions for agonizing

agonize

agonise

verb

to suffer or cause to suffer agony

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

Derived Formsagonizingly 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

Word Origin and History for agonizing

agonize

1580s, "to torture," from Middle French agoniser or directly from Medieval Latin agonizare, from Greek agonizesthai "to contend in the struggle" (see agony). Intransitive sense of "to suffer physical pain" is recorded from 1660s. That of "to worry intensely" is from 1853. Related: Agonized; agonizing.