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agonise

UK/ˈæɡ.ɪ.naɪz/US/ˈæɡ.ɪ.naɪz/
verbC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: agonising, agonised, agonises

To agonise is to worry at a decision for far too long. Agonise over a choice.

It is used of small decisions as often as of serious ones, which is the joke in it. To agonise over something usually means both options were acceptable.

Definitions of agonise

  1. 1verbagoniseTo worry at a decision for far too long.C1

    “He agonised for a fortnight over a two-hundred-pound purchase.”

agonise is an action.

Also accepted in games: agonize

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *h₂eǵ-

  2. Ancient Greek

    ἀγωνίζομαι — to fight, contend

  3. Latin

    agonizare

  4. French

    agoniser

  5. English

    agonize

  6. English, today

    agonise

agonize comes from French agoniser, from Latin agonizare, from Ancient Greek ἀγωνίζομαι (“to fight, contend”). See agony. by surface analysis, agon + -ize.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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