agonizingly

adverb

as in bitterly
with feelings of bitterness or grief agonizingly made the decision to have her beloved cat put to sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 agonizingly Kreutzer’s approach is disquieting in its intimacy, keeping agonizingly close to Lucy’s real-time perspective. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026 Englert and McLeod are agonizingly shocked when Anastasia and Sasha, on separate ships, hear each others’ voices for the first time in months, and realize the depths of their longing. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 July 2026 After a scientific odyssey, Wilsey is agonizingly close to realizing his goal. — Damian Garde, STAT, 9 July 2026 There’s been an agonizingly slow rate of reinvestment here. — Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 20 June 2026 The other is the agonizingly good stunt coordination by Julian Spencer that makes men slide in the mud frantically trying to grab and snap each other’s fingers. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2026 Mike Holloway had come agonizingly close before. — Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 June 2026 Fletcher is a bruising back who could have gone to the NFL this past spring, but chose to stick around Coral Gables and take another crack at winning a national championship after the Canes fell agonizingly close in January. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 3 June 2026 By online standards, though, the wait to bring charges—just a few days—was agonizingly long, and Dhillon complained on X about MAGA supporters heckling her to move faster. — Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonizingly
  1. bitterly
  2. sadly
  3. painfully
  4. sorrowfully
  5. hard
  6. mournfully
Adverb
  • Many clergy bitterly opposed the handover of the villages and criticized Pashinyan, who came to power in the South Caucasus nation amid a wave of hopeful, pro-democracy protests that swept Armenia in 2018.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Congressional Republicans are headed into the home stretch ahead of a crucial midterm election year bitterly divided over their competing legislative priorities.
    — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of bitterly
Adverb
  • My summer dresses will sadly be retired in the coming weeks, but a denim midi skirt is the ideal swap on days when I can’t be bothered to wear jeans.
    — Olivia Cigliano, InStyle, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Culture matters, and too often sadly those who are being asked to pay the price of climate change are not those who were putting carbon into the atmosphere in the first place.
    — Morgan Simon, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of sadly
Adverb
  • Unfortunately, Winger committed the mortal sins of having a pretty boy lead singer and painfully cheesy videos (even by 80s standards), so most people dismissed them and Beach as cheap imitators.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • His distance from Henry was painfully emphasized when his son got in trouble for bullying another classmate, and the idea of Michelle (Andrea Anders) getting engaged to someone else sent him into a tailspin.
    — Rachel LaBonte, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of painfully
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
Definition of sorrowfully
Adverb
  • The administration sees the naval blockade of the strait and sanctions as effective and views Trump as having additional options that can be cranked harder in the weeks and months ahead.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Let curiosity expand your world without making your message harder to follow or apply in real life.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of hard
Adverb
  • Mayfield watched mournfully in his kitchen while the rest of the family sat in the living room with the big screen next to a Christmas tree.
    — John Romano, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 July 2026
  • So is the moment early in the film when Mary mournfully looks on as her long-ago home faces demolition to make room for a big, featureless residential complex.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2026
Definition of mournfully

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agonizing
agonizingly
agony
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Cite this Entry

“Agonizingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonizingly. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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