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
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.
For students prepping for life after college, it’s an agonizing challenge: Internships are becoming more critical to landing that first job—yet are getting harder to come by.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026
It makes for an exhausting, agonizing, anxiety-ridden existence that dictates how John exists in public.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
But resources will always be finite, and it’s not clear how doctors could make such agonizing decisions better.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
Wood had been agonizing over what to say to convince the board to spare his life.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2026
My brain processed his features one by one, in agonizing slowness.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
