agony column

noun

1. a section or column in a newspaper containing advertisements by individuals seeking missing relatives or lost pets or possessions, announcing the end of a marriage, etc.

agony column

noun

1. a magazine or newspaper feature in which advice is offered to readers who have sent in letters about their personal problems
2. a part of a newspaper containing advertisements for lost relatives, personal messages, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of agony column¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Reynolds wrote an agony column, “Susan Chester Heart-to-Heart Letters,” for the Brooklyn Eagle.

From The Daily Beast

As everybody knows, the Agony Column of a daily paper is not actually so domestic as it seems.

From Project Gutenberg

I read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column.

From Project Gutenberg

It is my habit to read the “Agony Column” (as it is flippantly called), the second column in the outer sheet of the Times.

From Project Gutenberg

This string of intimate messages, popularly known as the Agony Column, has long been an honored institution in the English press.

From Project Gutenberg

At this point West's strawberries arrived and even the Agony Column could not hold his interest.

From Project Gutenberg