Words / B2

ANGW-ish/ˈæŋɡwɪʃ/

Anguish is severe mental or physical pain (usually uncountable): in anguish; cry of anguish. Agony is a close twin, often more physical; distress is milder; grief is for loss. Calling the source anguish is not analysis; name the event and the date. Mix-up: anguish vs language; angry; do not write anguish for mild annoyance in a survey.

Meaning

Severe mental or physical pain (usually uncountable).

Examples

• “Calling the source anguish is not analysis; name the event and the date, the history paper said.”
• “Anguish in the poem still needs the named image, the literature paper said, which is the figurative sense.”

Good to know

in anguish; a cry / look of anguish. Close: agony / distress / torment. Trap: angry / mild annoyance. History, literature, and RS. Severe pain of mind or body — name the event, not a caption.

Near in meaning

agony, torment, distress

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