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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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
This launch is the culmination of an agonizing rebranding campaign. — New Atlas, 8 Oct. 2026 Hersh was held hostage for 328 sickening, agonizing, and starving days until his captors executed him with five other young and luminous people in a tunnel underneath Gaza. — Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Time, 6 Oct. 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 your point, agonizing about everything isn’t doing me any favors. — Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2026 Even a lot of contemporary fiction, where the scenario of characters agonizing over whether to have children has become quite common, defaults to a laconic style (very short paragraphs separated by empty space, for example) that channels the familiar wariness about lushness. — Aaron Matz, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 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
  • His path crosses with Naoko, a Japanese tourist carrying the weight of a painful past, and Ruby, a young child searching for his parents.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Rising financial strains on American workers are forcing them to make painful trade-offs, such as skipping medical care, to make ends meet, new research shows.
    — Megan Cerullo, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of painful
Adjective
  • Richard Ables guided families through one of life’s most wrenching rituals at the historic Hall Brothers Funeral Home.
    — Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2026
  • After a quiet episode focused on Hal Jordan’s passing, Lanterns’s penultimate chapter deepens the mystery in surprising and wrenching ways.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of wrenching
Noun
  • Pelvic pain and trouble peeing are disruptive, but UTIs are dangerous if left untreated — delays in care are all too common and make prolonged suffering and dangerous complications more likely.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Schleinzer made a deliberate choice not to depict the assaults themselves, arguing that images carry a responsibility, particularly in a culture saturated with graphic representations of suffering.
    — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of suffering
Noun
  • After days of indecision, NASCAR disciplined seven people who participated in the attack on young racing star Corey Heim in front of a concession stand at Martinsville Speedway shortly after the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on Saturday.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Alex wants to hold on and let go at once, and her indecision spirals into a familiar yet attuned portrait of middle-age upheaval.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of indecision
Verb
  • Footage of the protest has since gone viral across social media, igniting widespread awareness for one of the trans athlete incidents currently plaguing Washington state.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • That's when many of issues plaguing the stock started to turn around.
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of plaguing
Verb
  • When the world mourned the death of a beloved monarch in 2023, Prince Edward was grieving the loss of his beloved cousin.
    — Stephanie Bridger-Linning, Vanity Fair, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Still grieving, Viard struggled to occupy the void left by Lagerfeld, whose larger-than-life personality loomed over the Paris fashion landscape and whose workload at Chanel spanned no fewer than 10 collections a year.
    — Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of grieving
Adjective
  • And now those still left in the battered city along Ukraine's southeastern front face death from hunger or disease as another harsh winter looms, with no agreement in sight for even a humanitarian evacuation.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Despite low winds and little rain, harsh surf continues to wreak havoc along Southern California's coastal communities.
    — Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of harsh
Adjective
  • The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Alberto Sierra’s estranged wife and her two young daughters detailed on Friday their torturous final moments, testifying during Sierra’s death penalty trial.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026
  • In a wartorn country where air travel is too perilous to even consider, the roads are the obvious option, but are jammed, precarious, and cursed with long, torturous border queues.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 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 18 Oct. 2026.

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