From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishanguishan‧guish /ˈæŋɡwɪʃ/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] written WORRIEDmental or physical suffering caused by extreme pain or worry the anguish of not knowing what had happened to her —anguished adjective an anguished cry for help
Examples from the Corpus
anguish• She sat for a while, checking an anguish which made her want to sob.• It brought home the family's humiliation and anguish after being forced to move out.• Some were written in anguish, others in hope.• Whether the cries of anguish for 1991 alone are justified remains to be seen.• Again and again and again, the wordless timid sounds of anguish continued.• Only the extraordinary personal anguish expressed by the judges themselves reminds us of the human horror at the centre of it all.• Of course, in past centuries, no global news network existed to capture the anguish of the victims.• The anguish of not knowing the truth was almost unbearable.Origin anguish (1100-1200) Old French angoisse, from Latin angustiae “extreme upset”, from angustus “narrow” 