anguish
/ˈaŋɡwɪʃ
/noun [mass noun]
Severe mental or physical pain or suffering: she shut her eyes in anguish Philip gave a cry of anguish...
- I'm glad he no longer has to suffer not only the physical agony but also the mental anguish of rejecting this new world.
- Rumor infiltrates the camp and Euryalus' mother cries out in anguish at the death of her son.
- He dropped to his knees and gathered up handfuls of dust and smeared them on his forehead and chest, crying aloud in anguish.
Synonyms
agony, pain, torment, torture, suffering, distress, angst, misery, sorrow, grief, heartache, heartbreak, wretchedness, unhappiness, woe, desolation, despair;
the dark night of the soul, purgatory, hell on earth
literary dolour
verb [no object]
Be extremely distressed about something: I spent the next two weeks anguishing about whether I’d made the right decision...
- Future historians will ask whether a society that anguished over the imposition of ever more absurd politically correct terminology might not have been better employed in curbing some of the excesses of the rock music industry.
- A senior diplomat from another council member said his government had heard a similar message and was told not to anguish over whether to vote for war.
- Well, a lady in that church anguished whether she should tell the pastor.
Origin
Middle English: via Old French from Latin angustia 'tightness', (plural) 'straits, distress', from angustus 'narrow'.
angina from mid 16th century:
The Latin word angere, ‘to choke, squeeze, or strangle’, is the source of a number of English words. The most obvious is perhaps angina, which originally meant quinsy (an inflammation of the throat) and later referred to angina pectoris, a heart condition characterized by a feeling of suffocation and severe pain. Nervous tension can produce feelings of tightness in the throat and chest, which explains why angere is indirectly the root of anguish (Middle English) and anxiety (early 16th century).