angst

[ ahngkst, angst ]
/ ɑŋkst, æŋst /

noun

a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish.

Origin of angst

1840–50; < German Angst fear, anxiety, Old High German angust (cognate with Middle Low German angest, Middle Dutch anxt), equivalent to ang- (akin to eng narrow, constricted) + -st abstract nominal suffix, perhaps a conglomerate of a suffix *-os- + *-ti- suffix forming abstracts

OTHER WORDS FROM angst

angst·y, adjective, angst·i·er, angst·i·est.

Example sentences from the Web for angst

British Dictionary definitions for angst

angst
/ (æŋst, German aŋst) /

noun

an acute but nonspecific sense of anxiety or remorse
(in Existentialist philosophy) the dread caused by man's awareness that his future is not determined but must be freely chosen

Word Origin for angst

German

Cultural definitions for angst

angst
[ (ahngkst) ]

A kind of fear or anxiety; Angst is German for “fear.” It is usually applied to a deep and essentially philosophical anxiety about the world in general or personal freedom. (See existentialism.)