agonize

English

Alternative forms

• agonise

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ.ɪ.naɪz/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ.ɪ.naɪz/, /ˈæɡ.ə.naɪz/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ.ɪ.nɑez/
• Rhymes: -æɡənaɪz

Verb

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

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

   Synonyms: ache, hurt; see also Thesaurus:suffer

   • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 13, lines 223–24:

     His Touch, if tremblingly alive all o’er, / To smart, and agonize at ev’ry pore?

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

   Synonyms: fret; see also Thesaurus:agonize

   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     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.

3. (transitive) To cause agony or anguish in someone.

   Synonyms: afflict, torment; see also Thesaurus:hurt

   • 1935, George Orwell, A Clergyman’s Daughter, page 8:

     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 […]

4. (transitive, biochemistry, pharmacology) To act as an agonist upon; to combine with a receptor on a cell to produce a physiological reaction.

Derived terms

• agonizer
• overagonize

Related terms

• agon, agony
• agonization
• deagonize

Translations

to writhe with agony; to suffer violent anguish.

Bulgarian: агонизи́рам (bg) (agonizíram) Catalan: agonitzar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 焦虑不已 (jiāolǜ bùyǐ) Esperanto: angori Finnish: kitua (fi), kärsiä (fi) German: quälen (de) Portuguese: agonizar (pt) Spanish: agonizar (es) Unami: ahowamàlsi

to struggle

Bulgarian: мятам се (mjatam se) Chinese: Mandarin: 痛苦挣扎 (tòngkǔ zhēngzhá) Finnish: kipuilla (fi) Maori: whakaangaanga

Portuguese

Verb

agonize

1. inflection of agonizar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative