agony aunt

noun

chiefly British

: one who writes an agony column

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Her character carries the audience with her as what could have been an idyllic getaway thrusts demands on her to be an agony aunt, diffuse tension, thwart advances of friendship and more. —Callum Mclennan, Variety, 25 Nov. 2022

Ludwig the mathematician fades out of the story too quickly after his stagey initial debates with Hermann, but he is played with tender vulnerability by Ed Stoppard, the playwright’s son by the agony aunt Miriam Stoppard. —Kate Maltby, The New York Review of Books, 14 Feb. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined above