as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief
agonizingly made the decision to have her beloved cat put to sleep
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Recent Examples of agonizingly
Ole Miss comes up agonizingly short in what may be the strangest season of the modern era.
—
Chris Branch, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
As with any mission that ventures beyond near-Earth orbit, portions of the journey will be agonizingly isolating.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 31 Dec. 2025
At first, these were agonizingly slow and laborious series of movements designed to mortify the flesh – to help the spiritual overcome the physical – and instill discipline and union among the members.
—Christian Goodwillie, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
There is a lot of agonizingly unsubtle product placement — for AMC theaters, Starry soda, even Paramount itself.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025
The pirates forced the survivors to help load the ship with as many ore containers as the ship could carry before sending them back to the ice moon to agonizingly await whatever would be their fate.
—Manuel Muñoz, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
The Democratic Party has held the governor’s mansion since 1985, including one agonizingly close election that is widely regarded by local Republicans to have been stolen.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025
Many of them leaned into generative AI and LLMs during their schooling, often doing so on their own since the university was either silent on the matter or was agonizingly trying to figure out what role AI should have in the medical education arena.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Chris Branch, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
As with any mission that ventures beyond near-Earth orbit, portions of the journey will be agonizingly isolating.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 31 Dec. 2025
At first, these were agonizingly slow and laborious series of movements designed to mortify the flesh – to help the spiritual overcome the physical – and instill discipline and union among the members.
—Christian Goodwillie, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
There is a lot of agonizingly unsubtle product placement — for AMC theaters, Starry soda, even Paramount itself.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025
The pirates forced the survivors to help load the ship with as many ore containers as the ship could carry before sending them back to the ice moon to agonizingly await whatever would be their fate.
—Manuel Muñoz, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
The Democratic Party has held the governor’s mansion since 1985, including one agonizingly close election that is widely regarded by local Republicans to have been stolen.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025
Many of them leaned into generative AI and LLMs during their schooling, often doing so on their own since the university was either silent on the matter or was agonizingly trying to figure out what role AI should have in the medical education arena.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonizingly
Adverb
-
Following a bitterly cold Wednesday morning, temperatures warm towards 40° on Wednesday afternoon.—
Steven Sosna,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
-
Last season ended bitterly; UConn had a tournament-worthy resume, but was left out by the NCAA selectors for the first time since 2017.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
18 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
This should be, but sadly will probably not be, the line that shouldn’t have been crossed.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Discovering the chemicals responsible for smoke taint is, sadly, only half the battle.—
Nicola Twilley,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Inspired by a 2017 Los Angeles Time article about a San Gabriel Valley tragedy, director Eric Lin’s heartbreaking feature painfully reminds us of the need to get help and how mental health issues within Asian cultures need to be destigmatized.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
8 Jan. 2026
-
By Sunday, he was gone, a mercifully swift ending to painfully slow decline.—
Scott Maxwell,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Tarun would tease her, and my mother would look sorrowfully toward Kavitha, as if the two of them now shared some womanly burden.—
Madhuri Vijay,
New Yorker,
16 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
Stevens said the loss of Lea’e’s father hit the team hard.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Worse, the tariff burden is a regressive tax that falls hardest on lower-income households and small businesses with less bargaining power.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
13 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
For their part, Democratic leaders spoke mournfully of limits, of energy shortages, of national decline, of a crisis of confidence itself.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
-
Based on the Dylan Thomas prose poem of the same name, published in 1952, the film lovingly and mournfully depicts the boyhood Christmastime of an old Welshman, tenderly and a tad mischievously embodied by Elliott.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Agonizingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonizingly. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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