How to Use agony in a Sentence

agony

noun
  • It was agony to watch him suffer like that.
  • The medicine relieves the agony of muscle cramps very quickly.
  • She was in terrible agony after breaking her leg.
  • Tony was in agony and there was a lot of blood.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 28 May 2026
  • There’s that agony of defeat, again.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Or their parents’ agony, night and day, for the past five years.
    — David McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2025
  • Or their parents’ agony, day and night, for the past five years.
    — David McGrath, Orlando Sentinel, 26 Jan. 2025
  • There was no pressure, no stress, no agony—just the need for speed.
    — Jonathan Beverly, Outside Online, 21 Dec. 2021
  • But then, the agony of not telling him grows bigger than the fear of telling.
    — Mithila Phadke, Longreads, 14 May 2018
  • Or, the Fed could take the low road and skirt the agony of a hard times.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2021
  • Here, the names of the dead can be spoken and the agony of loss can be shown.
    — Matt Sedensky, The Arizona Republic, 21 Oct. 2022
  • That’s a woman reaching up in agony and fear.
    — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Three and a half months of agony has finally come to a close.
    — Sara Tenenbaum, CBS News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Howling in agony looking at the spot where his legs used to be.
    — Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 29 May 2026
  • Sports gives us the sense of achievement and the agony of defeat.
    — Usa Today Sports, USA TODAY, 2 June 2020
  • All of the agony is already starting to fade for me (laughs).
    — Scott McDonald, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2 Oct. 2017
  • And your character is in such agony.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 17 June 2026
  • For them, the agony of waiting was more painful than the risk itself.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025
  • The nanny didn’t leave for a couple of months, which was agony for me.
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 13 June 2022
  • The lessons have come wrapped in triumph, agony and with so much in between.
    — USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2024
  • But with friends doubled over in agony, making the call to turn around is easy.
    — Vicky Ho, Alaska Dispatch News, 20 July 2017
  • Anyone who has had kidney stones will tell you there is no greater pain and agony.
    — David McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
  • The next day was agony, driving through the desert, the scenery sharp and unkind.
    — Chris Rush, Harper's magazine, 19 Aug. 2019
  • Allie—her body a flaming pyre of agony—rolled off the bed and fell to the floor.
    — William Earl, Variety, 1 Oct. 2024
  • The next day, the agony of not knowing ended, but with the news came more heartache.
    — Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 12 Mar. 2023
  • Jack Grealish had rolled on the floor in agony.
    — Sam Lee, New York Times, 25 May 2026
  • Part of the beauty, and the agony, of gold hoops is that there are so many good ones to be had.
    — Stellene Volandes, Town & Country, 29 Mar. 2019
  • But what stands out is the hurt that rests in their eyes, informed by the agony in their crushed hearts.
    — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
  • The blowout loss would’ve been enough agony, but there were injuries to match the insult.
    — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 19 May 2026
  • Friends and relatives of those trapped in Pokrovsky were in agony.
    — New York Times, 20 Mar. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'agony.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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