agony Hear it!

agony definition

ago·ny (ag′ə nē)

noun pl. agonies -·nies

  1. very great mental or physical pain
  2. death pangs
  3. a convulsive struggle
  4. a sudden, strong outburst (of emotion) an agony of joy

Etymology: ME agonie < L agonia < Gr agōnia, a contest for victory < agōn, agon

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

agony Synonyms

agony

n.

suffering, torture, anguish, distress; see distress 1, pain 1, 2. See syn. study atdistress.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

agony Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • suspense: Who shall say what hope, what agony of suspense, fills her troubled mind?

Converse of object

  • prolong: Arguably, it has actually made the killing worse by prolonging the agony.

Adjective modifier

  • excruciating: It can vary from mild discomfort to excruciating agony.

Modifies a noun

  • aunt: They can also email agony aunt, Sam, for direct advice.

Noun used with modifier

  • death: The death agony of the coalition ministry began on the day of its birth.
agony usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

agony quotes

   Naught broken save this body, lost but breath; Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there But onlyagony, and that has ending; And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.

-Brooke, Rupert Chawner

But set down This, set down This: were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death But had thought they were different; this Birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death. We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods. I should be glad of another death.

-Eliot,T(homas) S(tearns)

   Part of knowing who we are is knowing we are not someone else. And Jew is only the name we give to that stranger, the agony we cannot feel, the death we look at like a cold abstraction. Each man has his Jew; it is the other.

-Miller, Arthur

agony quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"agony." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/agony>

APA Style

agony. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/agony

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