anguish
Other forms: anguished; anguishing; anguishes
The noun anguish refers to severe physical or emotional pain or distress. A trip to the dentist might cause a cavity-prone person a lot of anguish.
We get this word from a Latin word, angustus, which literally meant "narrow" but developed the figurative sense of "distressed" — think of being choked off or forced into a small space. In modern times anguish has been in the English with the parallel and related meanings of "physical torment" and "emotional suffering." Both kinds might be experienced at the hands of a dentist who likes to make his patients squirm in agony.
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extreme distress of body or mindtype of:distressa state of adversity (danger or affliction or need)
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extreme mental distress
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suffer great pains or distresstype of:sufferexperience (emotional) pain
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cause emotional anguish or make miserabletypes:break someone's heartcause deep emotional pain and grief to somebodytrygive pain or trouble totype of:
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Vocabulary lists containing anguish
In this best-selling novel, sixteen-year-old Starr's life is turned upside down when she witnesses the death of her friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer.
When tragedy strikes, Esperanza's family has to leave their ranch in Mexico and move to a farmworkers' camp during the Great Depression.
Here are 100 key words for understanding John Steinbeck’s 1937 tragic novel "Of Mice and Men" -- set during the Great Depression in California.