agonizing
ag·o·niz·ing/ˈæɡ.ə.naɪ.zɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
agonizing is spelled A-G-O-N-I-Z-I-N-G: 9 letters and 4 syllables (ag·o·niz·ing). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, agonizing means “Causing physical or mental agony” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in agonizing?
| Letters | 9: A-G-O-N-I-Z-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: ag·o·niz·ing |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,270th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is agonizing?
Agonizing appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce agonizing?
- /ˈæɡ.ə.naɪ.zɪŋ/
Agonizing has 4 syllables, split ag·o·niz·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-agonizing.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of agonizing
- more agonizing comparative
- most agonizing superlative
- agonising
- agonizings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does agonizing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Causing physical or mental agony.
It was an agonizing twenty-minute wait for the results.
noun
- 1
The act of one who agonizes.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of agonize
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Agonizing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense causing agony:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | agonisant |
| Portuguese | agonizante |
| Spanish | terrible, angustioso, agonizante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.