agonize

verb

ˈa-gə-ˌnīz How to pronounce agonize (audio)
Definition of agonizenext
1
as in to persecute
to cause persistent suffering to got into more trouble, further agonizing her poor mother

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to grieve
to feel deep sadness or mental pain agonized for days over whether she'd done the right thing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 agonize To your point, agonizing about everything isn’t doing me any favors. — Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2026 People often agonize over how to ask for a raise at work, trying to determine when to speak up and how to make their case. — Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 12 May 2026 Her ex-husband, a good father, refuses to move the boy to the town and Eden agonizes about taking the boy from his friends and school in the Twin Cities. — Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 12 Apr. 2026 Not every meeting summary or line of code needs to be agonized over, farewell to arms-style. — Aytekin Tank, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for agonize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonize
  1. persecute
  2. grieve
  3. plague
  4. mourn
  5. afflict
  6. ache
  7. torture
  8. sigh
Verb
  • Other Eurasian emperors of the time also did not persecute occult practitioners as Ivan did in the lead-up to the second oprichnina, actions more in line with attitudes in early modern Christian Europe than those common among rulers of Asia.
    — Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Many Marranos persecuted by the Inquisition did secretly maintain a Jewish identity.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of persecute
Verb
  • My heart grieves for someone so special to this world and such a good friend to me.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Days later, thousands of grieving students marched through Beijing, calling for a more democratic government in Hu’s honor.
    — Sylvie Zhuang, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of grieve
Verb
  • Poliński said Zosia would likely have been blamed for misfortunes such as disease and famine that often plagued the region in the 17th century, which people sometimes attributed to supernatural activity by the dead.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Frightened that she may be plagued by the same mental illness that felled her mom, Gemma stubbornly refuses to believe anything is wrong.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of plague
Verb
  • People gathered at Downtown Park in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Monday night to mourn the deaths of 7-year-old Evie Brown, Kristen Brown and Alice Brown.
    — Ashley Grams, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • In the time since her sudden death, celebrities publicly mourning include Viola Davis, Selma Blair, and Rosie O’Donnell.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of mourn
Verb
  • His grandmother had already died of kuru, a disease that mostly afflicted women and children.
    — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • That constraint contributes to the housing crises afflicting these seasonal recreation areas.
    — Nancy Forster-Holt, The Conversation, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of afflict
Verb
  • Her lower back had ached during dinner, and, sure enough, there was the tarnished rust of her period in her underwear.
    — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
  • That aching ballad about wanting more, aside from being one of the big showstoppers, holds a special place for Greene.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of ache
Verb
  • The Assad regime fell in 2024, but the bodies of Khalil’s two friends were never recovered; their families assumed that they had been tortured, killed, and buried in a mass grave.
    — Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • One of Nader’s grandsons, Shah Rukh, was tortured by a greedy court eunuch named Agha Muhammad to force him to reveal the location of the invaluable diamond.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of torture
Verb
  • Otherwise, Bridge — and any forthcoming program of the sort — risks becoming less a pathway to better care than another obstacle along the way, and another reason for physicians and patients alike to sigh.
    — Jeffrey Millstein, STAT, 11 Aug. 2026
  • But Taylor eventually sighed and launched into an answer on his own.
    — Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
Definition of sigh

Browse Nearby Words

agonistic
agonize
agonized
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Agonize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonize. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on agonize

Nglish: Translation of agonize for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All