: extreme pain, distress, or anxiety
cries of anguish
mental anguish
anguished; anguishing; anguishes
: to suffer anguish
He anguished over his failure.
: to cause to suffer anguish
a heart that had been anguished with sorrow
Synonyms
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
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Apr. 2024
In addition to ecstasy, Kidman’s expression also conveys shock and anguish and, finally, acceptance of the impossible.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
Wynonna returned for the night’s final song, exhaling the anguish and absolving herself of the self-recriminations that loving someone who will never do you right incurs.
—Holly Gleason, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024
In anguish, Marc began tearing the tubing from his arms.
—Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 29 Mar. 2024
Fanon evokes powerlessness and the anguish of trying to regain control of one’s own life.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
Rosen, a 70-year-old retired schoolteacher, passed her final days in anguish, enduring severe diarrhea and nausea and terrible sores in her mouth that kept her from eating, drinking, and, eventually, speaking.
—Arthur Allen | Kff Health News, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
The series is a reminder of the anguish of rejection for teens, especially girls — and how that can manifest into something grotesque.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024
The uncertainty is not only complicating negotiations but also leaving the hostages’ families in anguish.
—Shira Rubin, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
Christopher F. Schuetze, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2024
My Israeli friends and family were anguished, reeling.
—Ayelet Waldman, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2024
He’s anguished and ardent about the world and his place in it, and recovery has left him newly and painfully obsessed with his deficiencies.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2024
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has anguished over the rise of inflation for more than two years now.
—Will Daniel, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024
But none of his legal troubles seem to have anguished Mr. Trump quite like the fraud case.
—Ben Protess, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
But fans, though initially thrilled, were anguished to learn that the title will not roll out until 2025 — a year later than expected.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 4 Dec. 2023
Jews were neither the first nor certainly the last minority to anguish over that conflict between representing and transcending identity.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
Church’s work is anguished and may well qualify as a cheesy metaphor.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
Noun
Without a word of spoken dialogue, the show pulls us into late adolescence, a time when love, anguish and everything in between are felt perhaps with the greatest intensity.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Apr. 2024
In addition to ecstasy, Kidman’s expression also conveys shock and anguish and, finally, acceptance of the impossible.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
Wynonna returned for the night’s final song, exhaling the anguish and absolving herself of the self-recriminations that loving someone who will never do you right incurs.
—Holly Gleason, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024
In anguish, Marc began tearing the tubing from his arms.
—Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 29 Mar. 2024
Fanon evokes powerlessness and the anguish of trying to regain control of one’s own life.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
Rosen, a 70-year-old retired schoolteacher, passed her final days in anguish, enduring severe diarrhea and nausea and terrible sores in her mouth that kept her from eating, drinking, and, eventually, speaking.
—Arthur Allen | Kff Health News, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
The series is a reminder of the anguish of rejection for teens, especially girls — and how that can manifest into something grotesque.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024
The uncertainty is not only complicating negotiations but also leaving the hostages’ families in anguish.
—Shira Rubin, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
Verb
Image The espionage cases in Britain and Germany, the first of their kind in two countries that once cultivated warm relations with Beijing, served as eye-catching exclamation points in Europe’s long, often anguished breakup with China.
—Christopher F. Schuetze, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2024
My Israeli friends and family were anguished, reeling.
—Ayelet Waldman, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2024
He’s anguished and ardent about the world and his place in it, and recovery has left him newly and painfully obsessed with his deficiencies.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2024
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has anguished over the rise of inflation for more than two years now.
—Will Daniel, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2024
But none of his legal troubles seem to have anguished Mr. Trump quite like the fraud case.
—Ben Protess, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
But fans, though initially thrilled, were anguished to learn that the title will not roll out until 2025 — a year later than expected.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 4 Dec. 2023
Jews were neither the first nor certainly the last minority to anguish over that conflict between representing and transcending identity.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
Church’s work is anguished and may well qualify as a cheesy metaphor.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'anguish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near anguish
Cite this Entry
“Anguish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anguish. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
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