anguish

1 of 2

noun

an·​guish ˈaŋ-gwish 

: extreme pain, distress, or anxiety

cries of anguish

mental anguish

anguish

2 of 2

verb

anguished; anguishing; anguishes

intransitive verb

: to suffer anguish

He anguished over his failure.

transitive verb

: to cause to suffer anguish

a heart that had been anguished with sorrow

Synonyms

Noun

• affliction
• agony
• distress
• excruciation
• hurt
• misery
• pain
• rack
• strait(s)
• torment
• torture
• travail
• tribulation
• woe

Verb

• afflict
• agonize
• bedevil
• beset
• besiege
• curse
• excruciate
• harrow
• persecute
• plague
• rack
• torment
• torture

Choose the Right Synonym for anguish

sorrow, grief, anguish, woe, regret mean distress of mind.

sorrow implies a sense of loss or a sense of guilt and remorse.

a family united in sorrow upon the patriarch's death

grief implies poignant sorrow for an immediate cause.

the inexpressible grief of the bereaved parents

anguish suggests torturing grief or dread.

the anguish felt by the parents of the kidnapped child

woe is deep or inconsolable grief or misery.

cries of woe echoed throughout the bombed city

regret implies pain caused by deep disappointment, fruitless longing, or unavailing remorse.

nagging regret for missed opportunities

Examples of anguish in a Sentence

Noun

He experienced the anguish of divorce after 10 years of marriage.

They watched in anguish as fire spread through the house.

Verb

she was anguished by the fear that her sons would die in the war

I anguished over the loss of my father for years afterwards.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The silent anguish that Charles describes has dangerous real-world ramifications: After the death of a spouse, widowers experience higher rates of mortality, persistent depression, and social isolation than widows do. —Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2024

The plot is on the heavy side: The Innocents plays with the mental anguish of a person desperately trying to make sense of the world around them while simultaneously dealing with their own emotional turmoil. —B.j. Colangelo, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2024

Verb

Trump has won voters who once voted for FDR, and Democrats will anguish over how to get them back without alienating the other parts of their coalition, including women, young people and people of color. —Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024

So we’re anguished to see the GOP, the only viable alternative party to the Democratic Party, make this its final pitch. —The Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English angoise, angwissche, borrowed from Anglo-French anguisse, angoisse, going back to Latin angustia (usually in plural angustiae) "narrowness, narrow passage, limitations, straits" (Late Latin, "suffering, distress"), noun derivative (with -ia -y entry 2), of angustus "narrow, confined, straitened," probably from *angos- (whence angōr-, angor "suffocation, anguish") + *-to-, adjective suffix — more at anger entry 1

Verb

Middle English anguisen, anguischen "to grieve, be distressed," borrowed from Anglo-French anguisser, angoisser "to distress, cause pain to, (as reflexive verb) suffer, be tormented," going back to Late Latin angustiāre "to compress, afflict, be in difficult circumstances," derivative of Latin angustia "narrowness, straits" — more at anguish entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

anguish

noun

an·​guish

ˈaŋ-gwish

: extreme pain or distress of body or mind

anguished

-gwisht

adjective