anguish

[ang-gwish]

noun

1. excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain.

   the anguish of grief.

   Synonyms: torture, torment, agony
   Antonyms: relief, comfort, delight

verb (used with object)

1. to inflict with distress, suffering, or pain.

verb (used without object)

1. to suffer, feel, or exhibit anguish.

   to anguish over the loss of a loved one.

anguish

/ ˈæŋɡwɪʃ /

noun

1. extreme pain or misery; mental or physical torture; agony

verb

1. to afflict or be afflicted with anguish

Word History and Origins

Origin of anguish¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English anguisse, from Old French, from Latin angustia “tight place,” from angust(us) “narrow” + -ia -ia; anxious

Word History and Origins

Origin of anguish¹

C13: from Old French angoisse a strangling, from Latin angustia narrowness, from angustus narrow

Synonym Study

See pain.

Example Sentences

Like many previous movies about those who ply that physical trade, “Rental Family” explores the anguish of a paid pretender troubled by increasingly genuine feelings.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While there was delight in the Wales coaching box - with Tandy embracing Welsh Rugby Union head of performance Dave Reddin before going back to his management team - there was anguish in Japan's.

Read more on BBC

Mom’s anguished childbirth moaning segues to those of young women nearby having their babies ripped from their arms and thrown into a bonfire.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Leafy speaks for all of the author’s blundering characters when, at one low ebb, he sums himself up as “an aristocrat of pain and frustration, a prince of anguish and embarrassment.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even inside this movie, Grace’s anguish is universal.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• agony 
• grief 
• heartache 
• heartbreak 
• misery 
• sorrow 
• suffering 
• torment 
• woe