angst

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) Emotional turmoil; painful sadness; anguish.
2. (uncountable) A feeling of acute but vague anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression, especially philosophical anxiety.
3. (uncountable) Fiction focusing on characters experiencing strong emotions and conflicts with other characters.

Verb

To suffer angst; to fret.

Synonyms

anxiety

worry

uneasiness

disquiet

alarm

dismay

distress

hump

oppression

mental anguish

angst bunny

mean reds

angstrom

anguish

bad mood

blues

Translations

angústia

angoisse

angustia

paturnie

Angst

😨

angoisse existentielle

angoscia

angst

😨

vrees

😨

aflição

mal-estar

pánico

carcoma

inquietud

Pronounced as (IPA)

/æŋ(k)st/

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch: angst

Cognate with Swedish: ångest

In summary

Borrowed from German Angst or Danish angst; attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Søren Kierkegaard. Initially capitalized (as in German and contemporaneous Danish), the term first began to be written with a lowercase "a" around 1940–44. The German and Danish terms both derive from Middle High German angest, from Old High German angust, from Proto-Germanic *angustiz; Dutch angst is cognate. Compare Swedish ångest.