agonize
Wrestle with decisions
To agonize is to suffer intense mental distress or to struggle painfully with a decision: She agonized over whether to accept the job offer.
The word emphasizes prolonged inner turmoil rather than physical pain.
Someone who agonizes dwells on a problem, turning it over repeatedly without resolution.
Agonizing as an adjective describes something that causes such distress: an agonizing wait for test results.
Severe prolonged suffering
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- sufferExperience pain or distress
- writheTwist body in pain
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
pain · grief · misery · woe · heartache · despair · anguished · excruciating
Think deeply about
- wrestleEngage in physical combat
- deliberateConsciously chosen, not accidental
- weighDetermine mass or ponder
- struggleLabored effort against resistance
contemplate · ruminate · mull · consider · debate · grapple · torment · second-guess
Troubled mental state
- fretAgitation or fingerboard guide
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
obsess · panic · apprehension · nervousness · unease · restlessness · disquiet · angst
State of perplexity
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- indecisionFailure to decide
uncertainty · torn · conflicted · ambivalence · impasse · bind · paralysis · catch-22
torment
Severe prolonged suffering
distress · pain · grief · misery · woe · heartache · despair · anguished · excruciating · torture
ponder
Think deeply about
- wrestleEngage in physical combat
- deliberateConsciously chosen, not accidental
- weighDetermine mass or ponder
struggle · contemplate · ruminate · mull · consider · debate · grapple · torment · second-guess · vacillate
worry
Troubled mental state
dread · obsess · panic · apprehension · nervousness · unease · restlessness · disquiet · angst · nail-biting
quandary
State of perplexity
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
indecision · uncertainty · torn · conflicted · ambivalence · impasse · bind · paralysis · catch-22 · deadlock
agonizego with the flow
Accept situations without resistance
breeze through · wing it · shrug off · go with one's gut · let go
- dopamine agonistCompound mimicking neurotransmitter action
- partial agonistLigand producing submaximal effect
agonizing, protagonist, antagonism, antagonize, antagonistic, agonized, antagonized, agonised, antagonizing