AGONIES Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

agonies

noun

plural of agony

as in horrors

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in pains

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

as in explosions

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of agonies Sadly, in discouraging all the phantom agonies, FIFA inadvertently seems to have done away with the equally farcical phenomenon that is Magic Spray®. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 July 2026 The reticence of Cartland’s heroes belies agonies of loneliness. — Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 18 June 2026 Although the novel’s center does not quite hold, O’Farrell’s emotional intelligence — the heart and heat of her characters — braces this sometimes unwieldy chronicle of a nation that has been subject to cumbrous historic agonies. — Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026 While significant, the Sotheby’s statue was just one among thousands of pieces that had been systematically stolen during the country’s deepest agonies. — Matthew Campbell, Bloomberg, 22 May 2026 The agonies of the day were only intermittently audible in the music on offer in Witten. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 18 May 2026 The celebrated poet and memoirist, delves into the agonies of her decision and describes the emerging women’s liberation movement, of which Moore would soon become a participant. — Literary Hub, 20 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for agonies

Noun

Arthur Miller’s enduring impact rivals Shakespeare’s, with a consistently socially conscious body of work that challenged power structures and society’s complicity during his time and still reaches modern audiences with the horrors of today.

— Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2026
But in between the jump scares and supernatural horrors is a story of motherhood and confronting the past.

— Tanya Fedak, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of horrors

Noun

In cases that are considered to be too severe — such as when a pregnant woman at the center began experiencing labor pains — those individuals are airlifted to a nearby hospital.

— ABC News, ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026
California has taken pains to eliminate coal as a source of electricity, and this would be the first coal export terminal in California — or anywhere on the West Coast.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of pains

Noun

The explosions provide different interruptions, punctuating the moment as one of Keeley’s ideas plays out in real time.

— Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
Over the course of its five-year mission, the Roman telescope will capture images of the Milky Way, survey the entire sky and observe supernova explosions that occurred as far as 8 billion years ago.

— Josh Feldman, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of explosions

Noun

An episode of septicemia, with its hells and paradises, its nightmares and hallucinations, transforms Borges into a story writer.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026
Curry, who died Tuesday at 80, made a gleefully evil turn as a clown that sparked nightmares for legions of Gen X and millennial viewers that continue to haunt to this day.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of nightmares

Noun

Some residents said hope is elusive given the island’s litany of miseries – from natural disasters to a bankrupt government to a financial control board that manages funding for infrastructure.

— Isabel Rosales, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Cyclospora, an intestinal parasite, has sickened thousands of people and hospitalized hundreds with explosive diarrhea, painful cramping, or other gastrointestinal miseries.

— Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of miseries

Noun

The former is meant to image extremely wide sections of the cosmos to capture tons of fleeting phenomena that are hard to catch — things like supernovas, fast radio bursts and maybe even colliding neutron stars.

— Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 30 Aug. 2026
At night, the lighting turns the wings into a moving field of color while bursts of fire give the dragon the kind of oversized entrance Burning Man was made for.

— Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of bursts

Browse Nearby Words

agone

agonies

agonistic

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“Agonies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/agonies. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of agonies

noun

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