AGONY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Agony

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/ˈægəni/ Listen

noun

Agony n. (pl. agonies)

1.

Violent contest or striving. "The world is convulsed by the agonies of great nations."

2.

Pain so extreme as to cause writhing or contortions of the body, similar to those made in the athletic contests in Greece; and hence, extreme pain of mind or body; anguish; paroxysm of grief; specifically, the sufferings of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. "Being in an agony he prayed more earnestly."

3.

Paroxysm of joy; keen emotion. "With cries and agonies of wild delight."

4.

The last struggle of life; death struggle.

Synonyms: Anguish; torment; throe; distress; pangs; suffering. Agony, Anguish, Pang. These words agree in expressing extreme pain of body or mind. Agony denotes acute and permanent pain, usually of the whole system., and often producing contortions. Anguish denotes severe pressure, and, considered as bodily suffering, is more commonly local (as anguish of a wound), thus differing from agony. A pang is a paroxysm of excruciating pain. It is severe and transient. The agonies or pangs of remorse; the anguish of a wounded conscience. "Oh, sharp convulsive pangs of agonizing pride!"

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Etymology of 'Agony'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Agony" Quotes from Famous Books

... The agony that was his during the next few minutes can by no means be exaggerated. With such crises the human mind is not fitted adequately to cope; it retains no record of the supreme moment beyond a vague and ...

— The Black Bag • Louis Joseph Vance

... hand of death was already upon him, a few moments before his agony, did he not say that eternity and space were already before his eyes, but that on this point, thanks to God, he was happy and tranquil? that the thought of living eternally, of living another life, was a great consolation to him? that Christianity ...

— My Recollections of Lord Byron • Teresa Guiccioli

... round among the grinning tars with a glance of terrible indignation and agony; and then settling his eye on me, and seeing there no hope, but even an admonition of obedience, as his only resource, he made one bound into the rigging, and was up at the main-top in a trice. I thought a few more springs would take him to the truck, and was a ...

— Redburn. His First Voyage • Herman Melville

... and with a shock that stunned me, for all I was so well prepared for it. A few brief moments of dreadful agony, and the good man who had been more than a father to me was no more. Never once during his long illness had his sister Lady Cludde visited him; neither she nor her husband accompanied his remains to the grave: and when we had left him ...

— Humphrey Bold - A Story of the Times of Benbow • Herbert Strang

... How melody seems to enjoy itself in the open air! The fiddles have forgotten their agony, and everything is harmonious. Until you look at the blue tent it seems that the music springs from the sunshine, it is so boundless, so joyous. Only when you see the staid-faced musicians ...

— Hans Brinker - or The Silver Skates • Mary Mapes Dodge

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