How to Use anguish in a Sentence

anguish

1 of 2 noun
Definition of anguishnext
Synonyms for anguishnext
  • They watched in anguish as fire spread through the house.
  • He experienced the anguish of divorce after 10 years of marriage.
  • The world of sports brought us joy and anguish (think Dodgers in the playoffs).
    — Times Photography Staff, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Still, the show leaves the audience with a feeling of anguish.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024
  • Tommy roars in anguish and grabs the other side of my head.
    — Dean Kuipers, SPIN, 8 Jan. 2023
  • Seeing the fear and anguish in the faces of the Bills and Bengals players was enough to bring anyone to tears.
    — Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Jan. 2023
  • Others have buried their anguish and refuse to stir it up.
    — Will Lanzoni, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2023
  • After months of anguish, the swearing-in came as a rush of relief.
    — Jody García, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jan. 2024
  • His anguish was such that suicide seemed the only way out.
    — Town & Country, 5 Mar. 2023
  • There was so much collective pain and anguish on that stage and throughout the venue.
    — Julie Seabaugh, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2023
  • But this sense of anguish may cause Hiroto to lose his way.
    — Diego Ramos Bechara, Variety, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Here the men and women and children reveal their anguish and loss.
    — Martin Kuz, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Burkhalter’s wife, Jamie, told the court of her and daughters’ anguish after Samuel’s death.
    — City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2023
  • The story is, in many ways, about a kidnapping, and there’s all sorts of anguish and dread going on.
    — Hazlitt, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Narratives shift and turn, and the faces of anguish and disarray are many.
    — Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2023
  • On the other end of the court, Missouri’s 7-foot twins, Simeon and Sammy Haley, fell to their knees in anguish in front of the team bench.
    — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2023
  • The walk from the stadium to the trolley featured no anger, no screaming, no anguish, no … pain.
    — Jay Posner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Nov. 2023
  • In the present day, Natalie has often referred to her anguish over what happened in the past.
    — Nojan Aminosharei, Harper's BAZAAR, 26 May 2023
  • The fact that the five officers charged with Mr. Nichols’s murder are Black complicates the anguish.
    — Clyde McGrady, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2023
  • The arrest ended years of anguish for some of the victims’ families.
    — Joseph Goldstein Johnny Milano, New York Times, 20 July 2023
  • On one hand, in this case the right hand, Tyler Herro was in considerable anguish.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 17 Apr. 2023
  • Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce expressed anguish over the shooting.
    — Nouran Salahieh, CNN, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Christian art centers on a moment of anguish and defeat, and this is in essence a Jewish idea.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Both poets spoke in a silvery but fierce timbre, their words measured but full of anguish.
    — Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Two friends, each with family trapped in Gaza, are united by anguish.
    — Jenny Gold, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024
  • In some cases, the release of hostages has only led to more anguish, as captives discovered their loved ones were among the dead.
    — Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2023
  • Treasured spots like those can be a career in the making, amplifying the anguish.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2023
  • Now, the city was wrestling with disbelief, confusion, anguish and anger.
    — Colbi Edmonds, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2023
  • One night his tears of anguish turn the pile into a loving sock monster named Crust who becomes his protector and friend.
    — Caroline Brew, Variety, 20 Feb. 2024
  • But the series lacks the perspective to consider anything outside of this black hole of anguish.
    — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Mar. 2024
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anguish

2 of 2 verb
  • I anguished over the loss of my father for years afterwards.
  • Painful to witness, anguishing for the team to process.
    — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 12 June 2019
  • Ghosh's mother, her face anguished, wailed and fell atop her dead son.
    — Author: John Branch, Anchorage Daily News, 19 Dec. 2017
  • She was more anguished that her son wanted to leave Turkey for good.
    — Zeynep Karatas, Washington Post, 5 May 2023
  • Well, for folks that are anguished or angry at this day, my urging is vote.
    — Ella Nilsen, Vox, 7 Oct. 2018
  • Jarryn’s mother, Suzanne Yorty, was anguished, but not shocked at the fate of her high school sweetheart.
    — Aubrey Whelan, Philly.com, 11 May 2018
  • Julius Caesar anguished over falling short of Alexander the Great.
    — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 20 Aug. 2019
  • Many of you expressed sorrow and anguish over the needless death and the sheer number of mass shootings, more than 200 so far this year alone.
    — Christina Prignano, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2022
  • In the movies, the victim was usually a man, with a beet-red face, clutching his chest and falling to his knees with one last anguished cry.
    — Jessica Knoll, The Cut, 17 Oct. 2017
  • This friend had lain face down in the Garden of Gethsemane, anguishing over the events that would inevitably unfold.
    — Atlanta Life, ajc, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Ashby told Folwer, and the two of them allegedly anguished over whether to tell their daughter.
    — Sarah Gray, Time, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Its walls preserve the anguished scratched scrawls of past inmates, including some in Hebrew.
    — Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2017
  • That stunning playoff loss was one of many anguishing disappointments for Dodger fans of that era.
    — Bruce Weber, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Feb. 2020
  • Our hearts are anguished in the face of so much devastation and destruction that [Hurricane] Maria caused.
    — Cristian Farias, Daily Intelligencer, 27 Sep. 2017
  • There was no anguishing back in the 1950s about national identity.
    — Paul Hoggart, Newsweek, 31 Aug. 2014
  • The parents often were anguished by the prospect of their children becoming part of a different culture with its own language.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 29 July 2019
  • For months, Democrats had been anguishing that the primary had turned into a circular firing squad.
    — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 5 Mar. 2020
  • On a video recording of a Zoom call about two weeks after the war started, a group of Ukrainian women were anguished and uncertain whether their country would survive.
    — Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 14 July 2023
  • Others are anguished because their pregnancy is a result of assault or rape.
    — Guest Columnist/cleveland.com, cleveland.com, 18 Mar. 2018
  • But at post office branches throughout the region, people cited a long list of problems — from late bills to anguish over the November election.
    — Kevin Fagan, SFChronicle.com, 18 Aug. 2020
  • So did Kara Young, a firecracker of an actress, nominated for her brassy, anguished work in the play (Young’s second nomination in a row).
    — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 2 May 2023
  • And so, after a first contact through the test’s website, and months of emails, anguished phone calls and sleepless nights in both men’s families, Mr. Beauvais and Mr. Ambrose came to the conclusion two years ago that they had been switched at birth.
    — Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, 19 July 2023
  • Rather than lip-sync the numbers, Day sings them in a voice that has some of Holiday’s signature breathy rasp and delicate lilt, and suggests her ability to move from whimsy to anguish and back in the space of a phrase.
    — New York Times, 25 Feb. 2021
  • The case has generated protests, questions about police tactics, and anguish for family and friends.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2022
  • That’s not an uncommon reaction for drafted centers in Warriors’ history, except that this time the tears were of joy, not anguish.
    — Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 18 Nov. 2020
  • The SuperSonics’ departure still provokes anger and anguish among fans.
    — Dina Bass, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2022
  • Hillary Clinton seems to be anguishing over her ex-candidacy.
    — Howard Kurtz, Fox News, 9 May 2017
  • The new disclosures prompted outrage in other world capitals as well – and anguish among the Uyghur diaspora.
    — Deirdre Shesgreen, USA TODAY, 24 May 2022
  • Forty-four years of anticipation turned to anguish, all because of excursions to Seattle.
    — Star Tribune, 10 Dec. 2020
  • The son of a bishop from Newton, S.C. attempted suicide at 17, anguished by his attraction to men — especially as the relative of a church leader.
    — NBC News, 7 Feb. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'anguish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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