1
as in to persecute
to cause persistent suffering to
got into more trouble, further agonizing her poor mother
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to grieve
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
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Recent Examples of agonize
Some parents on flights agonize over the idea of their young child causing midair disruption.
—
Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025
Worse, Liu’s one-dimensional moll spends the majority of her supporting screen time agonizing over toxic men, despite the actor’s best efforts to elevate the material.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 20 Feb. 2025
The only person with anything resembling nuance of complexity is Caleb, the white cop who agonizes over having pulled the trigger.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Mar. 2025
Organizations often spend too much time agonizing over how to articulate and execute the perfect AI strategy.
—Clint Boulton, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for agonize
Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025
Worse, Liu’s one-dimensional moll spends the majority of her supporting screen time agonizing over toxic men, despite the actor’s best efforts to elevate the material.
—Courtney Howard, Variety, 20 Feb. 2025
The only person with anything resembling nuance of complexity is Caleb, the white cop who agonizes over having pulled the trigger.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Mar. 2025
Organizations often spend too much time agonizing over how to articulate and execute the perfect AI strategy.
—Clint Boulton, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for agonize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonize
Verb
-
Leopoldo chose to be the voice of the people who elected him, and was persecuted for it.—
Imamu "Mu" Tomlinson,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
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After being persecuted for the nature of her work, the political scientist arrived to the U.S. in 2022 on a visa.—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
27 May 2025
Verb
-
See how these teens are grieving — and healing — together.—
Elizabeth Robinson,
NBC news,
29 May 2025
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You are allowed to grieve the version of love that existed uniquely between the two of you.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
Verb
-
But travel remains plagued by inefficiencies with disconnected booking systems, delays without real-time resolution and reliance on legacy infrastructure and software that slow rather than facilitate the journey.—
Omry Litvak,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
-
In a region plagued by foreign interference and democratic decline, Traoré's message resonates with disillusioned youth.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 May 2025
Verb
-
Mahaffey's husband, actor and director Joseph Kell, mourned her death in a statement to EW.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
31 May 2025
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But while friends and family of the teen mourned her premature death, anti-trans commentators on X turned Fosgate’s last posts into an whirlwind of transphobia — misgendering her, mocking her, and celebrating her family’s loss.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
31 May 2025
Verb
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Recent research suggests that the global area afflicted by lethal heat waves would triple in size in coming decades even if global climate agreements — which President Trump exited on his first day in office — were kept.—
Saul Elbein,
The Hill,
14 May 2025
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An estimated 75,000 people are afflicted with this disease in our country.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
8 May 2025
Verb
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Can Joe hoist his aching knees and weary butt back in the competitive saddle?—
Jeannette Catsoulis,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
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But Kealoha offers Lilo a wellspring of sadness and aching loneliness just beneath the surface of her more impish qualities.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
20 May 2025
Verb
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Investigators say the group allegedly lured the former business partner back from Italy to access his cryptocurrency account and then kidnapped and tortured him for weeks.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 May 2025
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According to the report, dissidents —including soldiers, opposition activists, human rights defenders, journalists and ordinary citizens— are being arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, tortured, and subjected to sham trials.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
20 May 2025
Verb
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The world sighed a breath of relief this week when the U.S. and China agreed to hit pause on unprecedented tariffs between the world’s two most powerful countries.—
J. Tedford Tyler,
Time,
17 May 2025
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England might collectively sigh with relief, but brand Kohli won’t be having a summer ball.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Agonize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonize. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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