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
-
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
-
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:
This way, we wouldn’t have to agonize over every ride and could even hop aboard to cross the Grand Canal without having to walk to the nearest bridge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Each week TikTok videos, podcasts and fan reactions on social media predict and agonize over who the young heroine, now finishing college abroad, will choose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 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
It was too much to think about now, too much to consider and agonize over in a logical way.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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
Tellez left Citrus College in October 2020 and still agonizes over the decision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
When semaglutide agonizes these receptors, it tells the body to make more insulin.
From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2022
Months later, she still fights feeling of resentment mixed with worry and agonizes over her belief that her return to work had left her mother more vulnerable to Covid.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2022
Additional copies have been filed elsewhere for posterity and safekeeping, as the desk copies often meet such gruesome fates while Chandresh agonizes over every word.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Faisuris Alvarez, who runs a beachside fish stand, agonized aloud over these questions without answers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
What if the destruction of your planet left you with a permanent case of agonized alienation, and you became a weird, antisocial loner who hung out in bars drinking alone?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 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
Haunted by the need to pay back the money he had loaned her, she agonized about how to meet her expenses.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Millions of adult children face agonizing decisions when their parents can no longer care for themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Pessina and her siblings began an agonizing search.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
I was agonizing over whether to claim at 62 or wait until 70.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Once she learned this, he added, finalizing her return wasn’t as agonizing.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
As he walked the streets of Japan’s capital, Mishima could feel the agonizing suspense in the air; he could see it in passing faces.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
