1
as in nightmare
a situation or state that causes great suffering and unhappiness
waiting all those hours to hear if he'd survived the plane crash was pure agony
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in distress
a state of great suffering of body or mind
the agony of never knowing what happened to her son
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in explosion
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling
the announcement that the war was over unleashed a mass agony of joy
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of agony
Yet Mitch cannot overcome his childhood agonies or mature with his peers or his country.
—
Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2025
Its noise, boys screaming, could pass as typical roughhousing or as agony.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2025
According to the outlet, the agony caused Cornett to remove her name outside her dorm room, temporarily relocate to emergency housing, switch to online classes and continue to spend most of her time in her room.
—David Chiu, People.com, 1 Apr. 2025
With espresso especially, the right grinder can be the difference between ecstasy, agony, and simple defeat.
—Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for agony
Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2025
Its noise, boys screaming, could pass as typical roughhousing or as agony.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2025
According to the outlet, the agony caused Cornett to remove her name outside her dorm room, temporarily relocate to emergency housing, switch to online classes and continue to spend most of her time in her room.
—David Chiu, People.com, 1 Apr. 2025
With espresso especially, the right grinder can be the difference between ecstasy, agony, and simple defeat.
—Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for agony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for agony
Noun
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Package delivery and unpaid toll texts have taken most of the headlines, but an even worse threat is proving a nightmare for phone users.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2025
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Eraserhead Year: 1977 Runtime: 1h 29m Director: David Lynch One of the most polarizing filmmakers of all time made an impact from his debut film, this surreal nightmare that was released in arthouses back in 1977 and was an instant hit in major cities.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Kahle said that includes providing resources to participants for whom sharing experiences of intimate partner violence may cause trauma or mental health distress.—
Rae Ellen Bichell and Rachana Pradhan,
Miami Herald,
20 Apr. 2025
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Costa Rican officials have disputed reports by the country’s Ombudsman’s Office that the deportees arrived in Costa Rica in visible distress and that authorities failed to guarantee proper conditions for arriving deportees.—
Megan Janetsky,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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From Ediacaran Precursors To The Cambrian Explosion The discovery and classification of Dickinsonia have had profound implications for our understanding of the Cambrian explosion.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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Authorities also said there was a vehicle on fire, which has since been put out, at the address of the house explosion.—
Kelly Murray,
CNN Money,
13 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Life was good, especially after the last three seasons of misery, when games at this time of year were meaningless aside from their impact on the draft lottery.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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For civilians, the unrelenting misery of the last 18 months has just got a lot worse – especially as no aid has entered Gaza for six weeks.—
Tim Lister and Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
12 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But Season 2, by leaning so far into its characters’ anguish, has become more circular and suffocating in its storytelling.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
21 Apr. 2025
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Coogler attempts to out-scare Jordan Peele’s Get Out, using horror tropes to match the anguish expressed by the blues.—
Armond White,
National Review,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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All the nervous energy that had built up at American Airlines Center was released in a burst of delirious joy.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2025
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The Hubble Space Telescope's recent deep-dive into Andromeda has been able to track the disorder in M31 that the merger left in its wake: streams of stars cannibalized from the galaxy eaten by M31 and producing a burst of star formation.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Orlov said Ukrainian POWs and civilians are known to be held in harsh conditions, where allegations of abuse and torture are common.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Apr. 2025
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The principle of universal jurisdiction allows for the prosecution of crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and torture committed on foreign territory by persons who are not nationals of the jurisdiction in question.—
Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab,
Forbes.com,
6 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In a lengthy interview with The Daily Mail, Moran's friend, Terry Stone, told the outlet that Moran's girlfriend was the one to encourage him to seek medical help after the actor was experiencing neck pain.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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This not only reduces the immediate emotional pain, but also rebuilds your internal resource pool that no longer needs to be devoted to maintaining the relationship.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
13 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Agony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agony. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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