agonise

/'ægənaiz/ Cách viết khác : (agonise) /'ægənaiz/

Thân thiện

She began to agonise over the difficult decision.

Definition

1. Verb (intransitive):

   • To experience or suffer intense mental or physical pain, distress, or anguish.
   • To worry or struggle deeply and anxiously about a decision or problem.

2. Verb (transitive):

   • To cause someone to suffer intense mental or physical pain or anguish.

Examples of Usage

• Intransitive verb:

  • She would agonise for days over every minor decision.
  • The patient continued to agonise in pain until the medication took effect.

• Transitive verb (less common):

  • The thought of failing his family agonised him.
  • The graphic details of the accident agonised the listeners.

Advanced Usage

• "to agonise over/about something": To spend a long time worrying or thinking anxiously about a particular thing.
  • He agonised over the wording of the email for hours.
  • Don't agonise about the past; focus on the future.

Variants and Related Words

• Agonize: The preferred spelling in American English. The definitions and usage are identical to 'agonise'.
• Agonising (adj.): Causing great physical or mental pain.
  • It was an agonising wait for the test results.
• Agonised (adj.): Expressing or showing severe pain or distress.
  • She let out an agonised cry.

Synonyms

• Anguish: To suffer or cause to suffer severe mental pain.
• Torment: To cause severe suffering to.
• Wrestle: To struggle mentally with a problem or decision.
• Fret: To be constantly or visibly worried or anxious.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: 'Agonise' itself is not commonly used with particles to form distinct phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically extended using prepositions like 'over' or 'about' as shown in 'Advanced Usage'.)

Related Idioms

• "To agonise over a decision": To find it very difficult to make a choice because you are worrying about the consequences.
  • The committee agonised over the final selection.
• "To be in agony": While not using the verb 'agonise', this idiom shares the same root and conveys the state of suffering.
  • He was in agony after the injury.

Học thuật

Verb

1. suffer agony or anguish
2. cause to agonize

Từ đồng nghĩa

• agonize