acute agony
Intense piercing pain
Acute agony is intense, sharp suffering—pain at its most severe and immediate.
The phrase emphasizes both the sharpness (acute) and the extremity (agony) of the experience: She writhed in acute agony after the accident.
It appears in medical contexts and dramatic descriptions alike, sometimes verging on redundancy since agony already implies intensity.
- sharpFine-edged, or astute
- excruciatingCausing extreme suffering
- tormentSevere prolonged suffering
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
searing · pain threshold · cry out · piercing · unbearable · writhing · doubled over · throbbing · intense · stabbing · blinding pain · screaming · grimace · wound · burning · raw · nerve endings · desperate