agony

agony

noun

Definition of AGONY

1

a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness <waiting all those hours to hear if he'd survived the plane crash was pure agony>

Synonyms agony, Gehenna, horror, misery, murder, nightmare, torment, torture

Related Words affliction, calvary, cross, curse, ordeal, trial, tribulation; calamity, misfortune, tragedy; gall, thorn; bummer, downer, drag

Near Antonyms delight, diversion, entertainment, fun, joy, pleasure, recreation; lark, picnic, riot

Antonyms heaven, paradise

2

a state of great suffering of body or mind <the agony of never knowing what happened to her son>

Synonyms affliction, agony, anguish, excruciation, hurt, misery, pain, rack, strait(s), torment, torture, travail, tribulation, woe

Related Words discomfort; cross, crucible, trial; heartache, heartbreak, joylessness, sadness, sorrow, unhappiness; emergency, pinch; asperity, difficulty, hardship, rigor; ache, pang, smarting, soreness, stitch, throe, twinge; danger, jeopardy, trouble

Near Antonyms comfort, consolation, solace; alleviation, assuagement, ease, relief; peace, security; well-being

3

a sudden intense expression of strong feeling <the announcement that the war was over unleashed a mass agony of joy>

Synonyms agony, blaze, burst, ebullition, eruption, explosion, fit, flare, flare-up, flash, flush, gale, gush, gust, paroxysm, spasm, storm

Related Words blowup, grouch, rage, tantrum; ecstasy, rapture, transport; delirium, firestorm, frenzy, furor