1
as in horrors
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 & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind
the agony of never knowing what happened to her son
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in explosions
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling
the announcement that the war was over unleashed a mass agony of joy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of agonies
The reticence of Cartland’s heroes belies agonies of loneliness.
—
Simon Perry,
PEOPLE,
18 June 2026
Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies.
—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
The agonies of the day were only intermittently audible in the music on offer in Witten.
—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
The celebrated poet and memoirist, delves into the agonies of her decision and describes the emerging women’s liberation movement, of which Moore would soon become a participant.
—
Literary Hub,
20 Mar. 2026
Simon Perry,
PEOPLE,
18 June 2026
Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies.
—
Rachel Vorona Cote,
Vulture,
2 June 2026
The agonies of the day were only intermittently audible in the music on offer in Witten.
—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
The celebrated poet and memoirist, delves into the agonies of her decision and describes the emerging women’s liberation movement, of which Moore would soon become a participant.
—
Literary Hub,
20 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonies
Noun
-
During discussions about elementary and middle school social studies curriculum, board members made addendums, including education about the horrors of communism, why the Second Amendment was created and how counterculture increased the rate of divorce.
-
The diamond gave her space to run toward something when the horrors of her past threatened to engulf her.
Noun
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The 74-year-old Weinstein, meanwhile, reported chest pains during jury deliberations in the most recent trial, spurring another early end to court.
-
The colors, pains, pleasures, smells, tastes and sounds, the what-it’s-like of being conscious, are not private inner bits and blobs that philosophers call qualia, floating in a theatre of the mind.
Noun
-
The satellite's primary objective, though, is to observe gamma-ray bursts – events triggered by the catastrophic deaths of massive stars and considered to be the most powerful types of explosions in the universe.
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The observatory has spent over two decades as a sort of orbital sentinel that scans the cosmos for gamma-ray bursts, ready to quickly point itself at the short-lived — but insanely powerful — space explosions at a moment's notice.
Noun
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And that’s the stuff that should really give us nightmares.
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The bench eventually became long and gifted with Te-Hina Paopao, Madina Okot and others, and then the Dream caused nightmares for their opponents with one of the grandest deals ever during WNBA free agency.
Noun
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The sad thing is that the miseries return, but there is no other Garrincha available.
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The parallels between Ines’ dilemma and that of a nation being asked to lick its wounds in silence — in the name of moving on from past miseries — are present but elusive.
Noun
-
There have been intermittent outbursts of violence against immigrants since then.
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Police said Poirier continued making verbal outbursts and took an aggressive stance toward officers.
Noun
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Tykes get slapped around, shot with arrows and dangled in traffic — tortures that are played seriously, but the shock of them allows you to guffaw.
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But such judgments often come from a place of distance—from people who have never lived under a theocracy that imprisons, tortures, and kills with impunity.
Noun
-
Focaccia bursts with the flavors of a Chicago hot dog.
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The presence of this ultraviolet light, and the star-forming history of the cluster producing it, suggests that bursts of star formation contributed to waves of ionizing radiation that gradually cleared out the opaque neutral hydrogen.
Cite this Entry
“Agonies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonies. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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