Meaning & use
angst
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Meanings
noununcountable
A deep, restless feeling of worry or unhappiness, often about life in general rather than one specific problem.
Grammar: Uncountable: teenage angst; you do not say an angst or angsts.
Patterns
- angst about something
- angst over something
Moving to a new school filled her with angst.
The singer's songs are full of teenage angst.
He felt a vague angst about the future that kept him awake.
noununcountabletechnical
In philosophy, the dread people feel when they face freedom, death and the lack of obvious meaning in existence.
Grammar: Uncountable and philosophical: existential angst.
Patterns
- existential angst
The novel explores the existential angst of a man who has lost his faith.
Philosophers have written at length about angst and freedom.
Common combinations
- teenage angst
- The film captures teenage angst very well.
- existential angst
- He wrote poems full of existential angst.
- deep angst
- There was deep angst in the office during the layoffs.
- angst-ridden
- The angst-ridden hero cannot decide what to do.
- angst about
- Her angst about the exams kept her awake.
Synonyms and how they differ
- anxiety
- Anxiety is a general word that can be about a particular event, while angst feels larger, vaguer and more emotional.
- dread
- Dread is the fear of something terrible coming, while angst can exist without any clear thing to fear.
- unease
- Unease is milder and quieter than angst.
- torment
- Torment is intense suffering from a specific cause, but angst is more diffuse.
Opposites
Word family
- angsty adjective
- showing or feeling angst, often playfully
- angst-ridden adjective
- full of worry and unhappiness
Commonly confused: angst or anguish? angst or anxiety?
angst vs anguish
Anguish is sharp suffering caused by a known loss or pain, whereas angst is a vaguer, ongoing unease.
angst vs anxiety
Anxiety is the ordinary word and can be medical, but angst tends to be literary or emotional.
Practice
The teenager's poems were full of ___ about growing up and finding a place in the world.
Choose one answer.
Angst is a vague, deep worry about life, which suits poems about growing up. Pride, triumph and indifference are not forms of anxious unease.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “angst”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.