agonies

noun

plural of agony
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

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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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of agonies There are few harsher agonies than waiting, and throughout the great expanse of the CPKC ‘International’ Grand Prix presented by Rolex at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’, two riders felt that in very different ways. — Tilly Berendt, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Sadly, in discouraging all the phantom agonies, FIFA inadvertently seems to have done away with the equally farcical phenomenon that is Magic Spray®. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 July 2026 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 While significant, the Sotheby’s statue was just one among thousands of pieces that had been systematically stolen during the country’s deepest agonies. — Matthew Campbell, Bloomberg, 22 May 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
  1. horrors
  2. pains
  3. explosions
  4. nightmares
  5. distresses
  6. outbursts
  7. miseries
  8. bursts
Noun
  • The country seems suspended in its aftermath, unable to separate the horrors of the past from the anxieties of the present.
    — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The proliferation of smartphones, for example, has meant people are both steeped in their day-to-day worries and fielding an endless stream of headlines about the horrors of the world.
    — Gili Malinsky, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of horrors
Noun
  • Flock fights to obscure 100,000 cameras For Flock protesters, cases like the one in Florida are disturbing, since Flock appears to take great pains to obscure who owns cameras where and how large its camera network is.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Communications obtained under the state’s public records law — first published by the Animal Welfare Institute and reported on by the Salt Lake Tribune — show Utah officials took pains to protect the farm’s privacy amid the outbreak.
    — Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of pains
Noun
  • Some clips appeared to show massive explosions of villages in Lebanon, where Israeli destruction of civilian infrastructure has drawn condemnation from human rights groups as potential war crimes, which Netanyahu's government denies.
    — Daniel Estrin, NPR, 28 Oct. 2026
  • An Associated Press reporter in the southern city of Aden witnessed explosions that shattered windows at the airport building and nearby homes after Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree urged everyone at the airport to evacuate.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of explosions
Noun
  • In the 1980s a woman and her daughter began having nightmares about a long-haired woman in a long dress struggling to rise from the bottom of a lake.
    — Marcus Librizzi, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Others incorporate unique themes, play on nightmares and stir up clinical cases of the heebie-jeebies.
    — Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of nightmares
Noun
  • Pain, infection, medication side effects, and other physical and emotional distresses may be expressed through shouting, intimidating gestures, kicking, pushing, or punching.
    — Jordan Rau, NPR, 19 July 2026
Definition of distresses
Noun
  • The fines could be rescinded if the coaches avoid sideline outbursts for the rest of the season, as the league calls for more civil interactions between coaches, players and officials.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • From harassing Brady over his divorce from Gisele Bündchen on social media to trying to be a rapper and much more, Brown’s post-football life has been one filled with public outbursts and controversial statements and stunts.
    — Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of outbursts
Noun
  • Some residents said hope is elusive given the island’s litany of miseries – from natural disasters to a bankrupt government to a financial control board that manages funding for infrastructure.
    — Isabel Rosales, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Cyclospora, an intestinal parasite, has sickened thousands of people and hospitalized hundreds with explosive diarrhea, painful cramping, or other gastrointestinal miseries.
    — Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of miseries
Noun
  • That means far less rolling-shutter wobble, along with bursts of up to 20 frames per second (fps) for as many as 200 frames.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Still, the episodes move along so fast and the bursts of talent emerge with enough frequency that Minimum Wage makes for an amusing, energetic, instantly disposable binge.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of bursts

Browse Nearby Words

agone
agonies
agonistic
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Cite this Entry

“Agonies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonies. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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