agonizing 1 of 3

adjective

ˈa-gə-ˌnī-ziŋ How to pronounce agonizing (audio)
Definition of agonizingnext
1
as in painful
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally agonizing cries rose up from the dungeon

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2
as in wrenching
intensely or unbearably painful died an agonizing death

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agonizing

2 of 3

noun

1
as in suffering

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2
as in indecision

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agonizing

3 of 3

verb

present participle of agonize
1
as in plaguing
to cause persistent suffering to got into more trouble, further agonizing her poor mother

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

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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 agonizing
Adjective
That’s vastly preferable to their endless, agonizing string of errors of omission. — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 24 July 2026 For the family, the news was a sigh of relief after so many agonizing years. — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 22 July 2026
Noun
My agonizing over a coin toss illustrates the basic distortion that gambling exerts on spectating. — Rand Richards Cooper, Hartford Courant, 8 Jan. 2026
Verb
To accept that there will always be creatures teeming nearby, some of them agonizing, expelled from their days. — María Ospina, The Dial, 31 Mar. 2026 The parents who keep looking for him, agonizing over his health. — Connor Letourneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for agonizing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonizing
  1. painful
  2. wrenching
  3. suffering
  4. indecision
  5. plaguing
  6. grieving
  7. harsh
  8. torturous
Adjective
  • In a series of video interludes that break up the performance into acts, Grande plays Peaches, a woman who wants to undergo a procedure to erase her painful memories.
    — Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2026
  • But any movement that engages her core muscles — bending, turning, stretching — is painful and debilitating.
    — Daniela Suarez, NBC news, 31 July 2026
Definition of painful
Adjective
  • His most wrenching scene, when Stagg receives a devastating personal call but cannot react amid the intense geopolitical stakes, captured this tension.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 26 May 2026
  • Another wrenching question, of course, is whether at least the younger Perez siblings would want or need to go with Olga to Guatemala if she were deported.
    — Tim Padgett, Sun Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2026
Definition of wrenching
Noun
  • The path to this milestone was imperfect and paved in blood and suffering.
    — Jacob Ware, The Conversation, 31 July 2026
  • And yet, in Yoon’s hands, a character’s suffering never overwhelms their capacity for tenderness.
    — Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
Definition of suffering
Noun
  • That indecision has made deals more difficult to close so far.
    — Jim Bowden, New York Times, 30 July 2026
  • Because in growing organizations, indecision is rarely neutral.
    — Nathan Mitchell, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of indecision
Verb
  • That image stands in contrast to an epidemic of loneliness plaguing older adults that public health experts have sounded the alarm over for years.
    — Taylor Seely, USA Today, 1 Aug. 2026
  • This completely sidesteps current debates plaguing Medicare Part B — namely, rapidly mounting medication spending has driven higher premiums and out-of-pocket payments for beneficiaries.
    — Pooja Yerramilli, STAT, 24 July 2026
Definition of plaguing
Verb
  • Peter trying to have a normal holiday while grieving Tony, Mysterio’s deception, and the post-credits scene that blows Peter’s life apart — all of it feeds into where the new film finds him.
    — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • People attend funerals in order to pay their respects and emotionally support the grieving family.
    — Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of grieving
Adjective
  • In both premise and execution, the show is hugely reminiscent of the Showtime series of the aughts and early 2010s that featured women in harsh circumstances going to extremes in order to get one over on a society that didn’t care about them.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Although he would not be drawn on future product pricing, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are set for release in September and will be affected by the harsh trading conditions.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of harsh
Adjective
  • From 1873 to 1991, the island served as Costa Rica’s principal penitentiary, where some of the country’s worst criminals were sent to serve often short and torturous sentences.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 24 July 2026
  • Hellraiser introduced audiences to the mythology of the Lament Configuration puzzle box, the home to a dimensional portal inhabited by the ritualistically torturous beings, the Cenobites, and their leader, the iconic Pinhead.
    — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 21 July 2026
Definition of torturous

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Cite this Entry

“Agonizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonizing. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on agonizing

Nglish: Translation of agonizing for Spanish Speakers

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