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
Just as the agonies and inadequacies of the meal itself are necessary steps toward the glorious leftovers to come, to me the bird is simply a prerequisite for its bones.
—
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonies
Noun
-
Stories The Dial Press, February 24 I love reading about the horrors.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In fact, Williams took great pains to establish that his primary objective is building the Terps (7-7, 0-3 Big Ten), not tearing down a 21-year-old prospect, the Bears or the sport’s governing body.—
Edward Lee,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Jan. 2026
-
Those in their fifties and beyond require the same amount of sleep as younger adults—and may actually benefit from sleeping more to offset nightly wake-ups from aches and pains, medication side effects, or dealing with the need to urinate more frequently in the middle of the night.—
Emma Loewe,
Outside,
1 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The explosions caused secondary fires that torched neighborhoods, according to the suit.—
Tony Saavedra,
Daily News,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Test explosions became increasingly rare.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Eight years later, the show isn’t making viewers nostalgic or giving them nightmares.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
26 Dec. 2025
-
The students allegedly experienced sleep issues, nightmares and were scared of returning to school due to the possibility of being in that room.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
18 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
As 6-7 went viral, teachers complained that random outbursts by their students were interrupting their lessons.—
Rebekah Willett,
Fortune,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The war was officially declared over in July 2003 but violent outbursts continued.—
Jay Harris,
New York Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The victims of prejudice and inequality are always the best guardians of the ramparts that sustain those miseries.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
23 Nov. 2025
-
Falling support in Gaza Palestinian public pressure on Hamas has risen as the miseries of war have mounted.—
Mkhaimar Abusada,
The Conversation,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
After testing the interest of sports fans in short-form content, Disney aims to bring brief bursts to a broader audience.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
7 Jan. 2026
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Operating for thousands of daily cycles over decades trumps quick bursts of power.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Former Jews deemed insufficiently converted faced the Spanish Inquisition’s tortures.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Agonies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonies. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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