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anguish

American  
[ang-gwish] / ˈæŋ gwɪʃ /

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 British  
/ ˈæŋɡwɪʃ /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to afflict or be afflicted with anguish

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See pain.

Etymology

Origin of anguish

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.