agonize

English

Alternative forms

• agonise

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French agoniser, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin agonizare, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek ἀγωνίζομαι (agōnízomai, “to fight, contend”). See agony.

Pronunciation

• Template:audio-pron

Verb

1. (intransitive) To writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
   • Alexander Pope:

     To smart and agonize at every pore.

2. (intransitive) To struggle; to wrestle; to strive desperately, whether mentally or physically.
   • 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, agony
• agonization

Translations

to writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.

• Bulgarian: агонизирам (bg) (agoniziram)
• Catalan: agonitzar (ca)
• Chinese: 焦虑不已 (jiāolǜ bùyǐ)
• Esperanto: angori
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: quälen (de)
• Interlingue:
• Portuguese: agonizar (pt)
• Spanish: agonizar (es)

to struggle

• Bulgarian: мятам се (mjatam se)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Chinese: 痛苦挣扎 (tòngkǔ zhēngzhá)