agonize

English

Etymology

From French agoniser, from Late Latin agonizare, from Ancient Greek ἀγωνίζομαι (agonizomai, “to fight, contend”). See agony.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæ.ɡən.aɪz/

Verb

agonize (third-person singular simple present agonizes, present participle agonizing, simple past and past participle agonized) (intransitive)

1. (intransitive) To writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.

   To smart and agonize at every pore. --Alexander Pope.

2. (intransitive) To struggle; to wrestle; to strive desperately.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 3

     So I took a last stare round, agonizing to see if there was any way of escape; but the stone walls and roof were solid enough to crush me, and the stack of casks too closely packed to hide more than a rat.

Related terms

agon

Translations

to writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.

• Bulgarian: агонизирам (bg) (agoniziram)
• Catalan: agonitzar (ca)

• Chinese: 焦虑不已 (jiāolǜ bùyǐ)
• Spanish: agonizar (es)

to struggle

• Bulgarian: мятам се (bg) (mjatam se)

• Chinese: 痛苦挣扎 (tòngkǔ zhēngzhá)