agonize

This way, we wouldn’t have to agonize over every ride and could even hop aboard to cross the Grand Canal without having to walk to the nearest bridge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Refusing even a hint of introspection, she added: “We don’t agonize over what happened. We organize about what comes next.”

From Slate ● Nov. 15, 2024

I agonize over the amount of plastic we can’t avoid using and mourn the monarch butterflies that have vanished.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024

When they wed, their fans swoon; when stars divorce, people agonize over what went wrong.

From Salon ● Jan. 5, 2024

Mom said when she and Dad visited him, Poppy would be hurting so much he could hardly talk, and Dad would agonize over it for days afterward.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

In 1415, on the eve of challenging France at the Battle of Agincourt, he agonizes about the moral burdens of kingship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

Miyazaki agonizes over the character of the Great Uncle who has built the fantastical world of the tower in “The Boy and The Heron.”

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024

Admittedly, he agonizes over defeat more than he celebrates victory.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2024

In another, a girl agonizes while her 10-year-old sister buys a maroon lifeguard hoodie.

From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2023

For the rest of the play, Hamlet agonizes.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

Faisuris Alvarez, who runs a beachside fish stand, agonized aloud over these questions without answers.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

Then the singers froze in place, the lighting changed, and the screaming orchestra and Ms. Loera’s projections of Blanche’s agonized face told the rest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

The players agonized, according to these people who were in touch with them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

Only much later did I find out what agonized him, when I approached his booth and asked if he was taking requests.

From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2025

She remembered his agonized cry, “I’m a dead man!” and his childlike plea to his mother to forgive him.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

Collins stood outside for several agonizing minutes, hearing their muffled voices.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Inside, under flickering lights, a group of reluctant strangers is coaxed into acting out, in a converted gymnasium, a wild tale promising redemption from agonizing tragedy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Pessina and her siblings began an agonizing search.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

One of the most agonizing streaks in sports is over.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

Now he was in Tartarus, dying from gorgon’s blood plus a dozen other agonizing curses, while he watched his girlfriend stumble around, helpless and blind and believing he’d abandoned her.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan