agonizing
Americanadjective
Usage
What does agonizing mean? Agonizing means filled with or resulting in agony—extreme pain or suffering, especially the kind that lasts for a long time. A close synonym is excruciating.Agony can be physical or emotional, and things that are agonizing can involve physical or emotional pain. A person who has just broken their leg and a person who has just experienced the death of a loved one could both be said to be in agonizing pain. To suffer an agonizing death is to experience an extremely painful one. An agonizing decision is one that is very hard to make due to being emotionally painful in some way.Agonizing is also the continuous tense (-ing form) of the verb agonize, which can mean to be in agony. However, it most commonly means to put forth a great effort—to struggle or strive, as in She’s been agonizing about what to get you for your birthday. Example: She’s down and appears to be in agonizing pain—the trainers are coming onto the field now to help her.
Other Word Forms
- agonizingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of agonizing
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.
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
It was agonizing to think of Togbe’s hopes for me, his rosy dreams for my future.
From Literature
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.
