Meanings
present singular third person agonizes · participle present agonizing · participle past agonized · past agonized · alternative agonise
- intransitiveTo writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
His Touch, if tremblingly alive all o’er, / To smart, and agonize at ev’ry pore?
1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 13, lines 223–24Synonyms: ache, hurt, ache, anguish, hurt, pain, passion, suffer
- intransitiveliteraryTo struggle; to wrestle; to strive desperately, whether mentally or physically.
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.
[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLCSynonyms: fret
- transitiveTo cause agony or anguish in someone.
That dreadful bill […] was one of the chief torments of her life. At all hours of the night or day it was waiting just round the corner of her consciousness, ready to spring upon her and agonise her […]
1935, George Orwell, A Clergyman’s Daughter, page 8Synonyms: afflict, torment, ache, afflict, aggrieve, anguish, dere, excruciate
- transitivebiochemistryTo act as an agonist upon; to combine with a receptor on a cell to produce a physiological reaction.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
verbTo struggle; to wrestle; to strive desperately, whether mentally or physically.
verbTo cause agony or anguish in someone.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀγωνίζομαι“to fight, contend”
- Late Latinagonizare
- Frenchagoniser
- Englishagonize
From French agoniser, from Late Latin agonizare, from Ancient Greek ἀγωνίζομαι (agōnízomai, “to fight, contend”). See agony. By surface analysis, agon + -ize.
More words from French, Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian агонизи́рам, мятам се
- агонизи́рам (agonizíram)to writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
- мятам се (mjatam se)to struggle
Catalan agonitzar
- agonitzarto writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
Chinese Mandarin 焦虑不已, 痛苦挣扎
- 焦虑不已 (jiāolǜ bùyǐ)to writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
- 痛苦挣扎 (tòngkǔ zhēngzhá)to struggle
Esperanto angori
- angorito writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
Finnish kitua, kärsiä
- kituato writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
- kärsiäto writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
- kipuillato struggle
German quälen
- quälento writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
Māori whakaangaanga
- whakaangaangato struggle
Portuguese agonizar
- agonizarto writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
Spanish agonizar
- agonizarto writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with agonize
All rhymes →Cite this entry
agonize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agonize
“agonize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agonize. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “agonize,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agonize.
Source: agonize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.