agonizes

verb

present tense third-person singular of agonize
1
as in persecutes
to cause persistent suffering to got into more trouble, further agonizing her poor mother

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grieves
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 agonizes 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 McClarnon, 59, not only stars but produces, directs and agonizes about getting it right. — Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 15 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonizes
  1. persecutes
  2. grieves
  3. plagues
  4. mourns
  5. afflicts
  6. sighs
  7. tortures
  8. aches
Verb
  • China, which jails human rights activists in Hong Kong, persecutes Uyghurs, has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and has committed genocide against the Falun Gong, is on the UN Human Rights Council.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • In Russia, the civilian repressive apparatus persecutes the military, which leaps at every chance for revenge.
    — Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Definition of persecutes
Verb
  • As Wabasha grieves, Hust said coming together in prayer and support is the first step in what will be a long healing process.
    — Ashley Grams, CBS News, 13 July 2026
  • Each person grieves differently.
    — Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 14 June 2026
Definition of grieves
Verb
  • More bureaucracy — in the form of the new stand-alone Department of Gun Violence Reduction — while well-intentioned, isn’t the panacea to what plagues our city, especially as whoever is appointed head of this new department will enjoy too much independence from the mayor.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
  • Odd moment plagues fourth quarter As the Knicks held on to their fairly sizable lead, a fan ran onto the court, tried to take a selfie with Wembanyama but was quickly apprehended by security.
    — Jacob Lev, CNN Money, 4 June 2026
Definition of plagues
Verb
  • Follow the latest as Iran mourns its supreme leader for a third day.
    — Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 6 July 2026
  • As the community mourns the teen, investigators are still determining what caused his death.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026
Definition of mourns
Verb
  • Advertisement Mission hijacking in the nonprofit space A similar overcrowding afflicts the pro-democracy space today.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Time, 28 June 2026
  • These men have arrived here on a wave of isolation that’s swept the country since the pandemic and afflicts boys and men of all ages.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 27 June 2026
Definition of afflicts
Verb
  • Gosha sighs, at the prospect of having to raise an amount that, over in the States, would be less than 50 bucks.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 11 July 2026
  • In the series premiere of Netflix’s Vladimir, Rachel Weisz awakens from troubled sleep to a cascade of texts, sighs deeply, and addresses the camera with pleading eyes.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026
Definition of sighs
Verb
  • The retrospection tortures her.
    — Alexandra Rockey Fleming, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Later, in one of the movie's most satisfying scenes, Millie locks Andrew in the attic and tortures him by loudly smashing each plate.
    — Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Dec. 2025
Definition of tortures
Verb
  • While most infected people are asymptomatic, some may experience fever, headaches and body aches, and less than 1% develop severe illness that may result in hospitalization or death.
    — Alula Alderson, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026
  • Some people may also experience body aches, headache or vomiting.
    — DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 13 July 2026
Definition of aches

Browse Nearby Words

agonized
agonizes
agonizing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Agonizes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonizes. Accessed 22 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on agonizes

Nglish: Translation of agonizes 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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of stalwart

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

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

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

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

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
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
thumbnail graphic with text word of the day quiz
Weekly "Word of the Day" Quiz See how well you know each Word of the Day for Ju...
See All