Meaning & use
agony
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Very severe physical pain that is hard to bear.
Grammar: Often used with in: she was in agony. The plural agonies is used for separate episodes.
Patterns
- be in agony
- cry out in agony
He was in agony after twisting his ankle on the stairs.
She screamed in agony when the hot oil spilled.
The patient groaned in agony until the medicine took effect.
nouncountable or uncountable
Intense mental suffering, such as worry, guilt or grief.
Grammar: Often appears in set phrases: the agony of waiting.
Patterns
- the agony of something
- suffer agony over something
The family endured the agony of waiting for news.
He felt the agony of regret after the argument.
Parents go through agonies when a child is late coming home.
nounsingularinformalBritish
A very strong emotional outburst or struggle, especially in the phrases agony aunt and the agony of defeat.
Grammar: Used in fixed phrases, for instance agony aunt, a British newspaper adviser.
Patterns
- agony aunt
- agony column
She wrote to the agony aunt about her problems with her sister.
The agony column in the magazine gave sensible advice.
The coach watched the agony of defeat on the players' faces.
Word forms
| plural | agonies |
|---|
Common combinations
- in agony
- The hiker was in agony from a broken leg.
- scream in agony
- He screamed in agony as the dentist touched the nerve.
- sheer agony
- Waiting for the exam results was sheer agony.
- prolong the agony
- Do not prolong the agony; just tell me the score.
- agony aunt
- She asked an agony aunt for relationship advice.
- death agony
- The film shows the death agony of a wounded animal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anguish
- Anguish is most often mental or emotional suffering, while agony more often refers to severe pain of the body.
- torment
- Torment suggests long, repeated suffering caused by something, and it can be used for a cause as well as a feeling.
- torture
- Torture is usually deliberate cruelty, so it is stronger than agony when speaking of a feeling.
- suffering
- Suffering is the general word for pain or hardship of any kind and is weaker than agony.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: agony or ecstasy?
agony vs ecstasy
Ecstasy is great joy, so it is nearly the opposite of agony. Both words suggest extreme feeling, which is why they can be confused.
Practice
The long wait for the biopsy results was pure ____ for the whole family.
Choose one answer.
Agony describes severe mental suffering, which fits a tense wait. Apathy means lack of feeling and agency is the ability to act, neither of which suits the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “agony”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.