Home › Emotions › Despair & Pessimism › anguish

anguish

ANG-gwish /ˈæŋ.ɡwɪʃ/

nounverbB2GRESATTOEFL

literarygeneral

Severe mental or physical pain, agony, or intense distress.

Implies an acute, agonizing torment that grips the soul or body.

The story behind the word. Latin angustia meant narrowness or a suffocating constriction, from angere (to choke). The feeling of agonizing grief was viewed as a literal tightening around the throat or heart. Through Old French angoisse, English acquired a word that captures emotional pain so severe it feels physically crushing.

Word relationships

agony: Agony can be purely physical, while anguish strongly emphasizes emotional and spiritual torment.
torment: Torment often implies an outside agent causing pain, whereas anguish is the felt internal agony.

ecstasy: Ecstasy is intense delight and overwhelming joy.
solace: Solace is comfort in distress.

Commonly confused with

anger: Anger is hostile irritation; anguish is deep, painful suffering.

Word family

anguished (adjective): Experiencing or expressing severe mental or physical pain.

Collocations

mental anguish
cry of anguish
excruciating anguish
expression of anguish

Idioms & expressions

wringing one's hands
heart-wrenching pain

Example sentences

"The mother's anguish was painfully visible as she pleaded for news about her missing child." News reporting
"He screamed in mental anguish upon learning of his brother's tragic betrayal." Dramatic literature

Memory hook

ANGUISH makes you ANGRY and SICK with pain. Suffocating, crushing emotional agony.

When not to use

Do not use for slight physical discomfort or minor inconvenience; it denotes overwhelming pain.

Fun facts

The word anguish shares an ancient Indo-European root with anxiety and anger, all originating from a verb meaning to choke or squeeze tight.