: a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity
teenage angst

angst

2 of 2

verb

angsted; angsting; angsts

intransitive verb

: to feel or express anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity : to experience or express angst
"… all that time spent agonizing, angsting, and wasted in so many ways, feeling crappy and not writing … ."Zsuzsi Gartner
And there was a whiff of "first-world problems" about two not particularly likeable characters angsting to each other in a trendy-looking gastropub.Jeff Robson
often used with over or about
Yet now we have a Superman who angsts about not having human connections (his marriage to Lois never happened now) and mopes around quite a bit.Corrina Lawson
We boomers have moved on to mortgages and taxes, angsting over our teenagers and tending to the first signs of ailments apt to drag us down more quickly than we'd like to admit.Robert Benjamin

Examples of angst in a Sentence

Noun The winner of France's prestigious Prix de Flore, "Report on Myself" is a study in raw angst and mortifying self-disclosure: a portrait of the artist as a lover who just can't catch a break. Caroline Weber, New York Times Book Review, 15 Feb. 2009
Adapting Alicia Erian's novel, writer-director Alan Ball showcases both the knack for sketching out thorny relationships that distinguished Six Feet Under and the impulse for … suburban angst that befouled his script for American Beauty. Troy Patterson, Spin, September 2008
The retail category, of course, has been a source of angst among newspapers for some time. Retail ad volume in papers has declined for much of the past 15 years, according to Merrill Lynch research. Lucia Moses et al., Editor & Publisher, 8 Oct. 2001
One way to increase these health benefits is to learn how to write more fluidly and with less angst and frustration. When you're engaged with what you're doing, the rest of the world recedes. Susan H. Perry, Psychology Today, November/December 2001
a film about teenage angst
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
That opportunity cost can be voter confusion — or, in my case, angst and avoidance. Erika D. Smith, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Zero is just not a sensibility worthy of ongoing angst and edge-of-your-seat hopes. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 The idea of pushing Floridians’ policies onto those companies has caused angst for some lawmakers. Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2024 While Waymo has been operating its cars in Los Angeles mostly without incident — and hasn’t had any high-profile collisions such as the one in San Francisco that injured the pedestrian — a number of relatively minor incidents have fed public angst about the vehicles. Trisha Thadani, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 Many people express themselves in a language of angst, doubt, fear, and uncertainty, but avoid talking about specifics. Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2024 In the past few years, since the pandemic triggered one of the worst job crises in decades and as burnout rates reach record highs among Americans, many releases have depicted similarly debilitating workplace angst. Beatrice Loayza, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2024 This season feels different with angst and expectations often overriding the sense of excitement. Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 16 Feb. 2024 There will be no web-slinging here, but plenty of adolescent angst and eye-rolling. Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2024
Verb
The two-time Oscar winner calibrates Sharon’s spirited perseverance, as well as her susceptibility to angst and sorrow. Courtney Howard, Variety, 20 Feb. 2024 Investor angst over the dampening economic prospects and high inflation have reflected on the stock price of luxury stocks like LVMH which, in turn, have hurt Arnault’s wealth. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2023 Adventure, but also angst; slugfests, but also sarcasm and soap operas. Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2023 Clarkson’s rendition of the record is smoother, carrying more soul than angst in her tone. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 8 June 2023 Yet angst about the appointment is inevitable. Maya Wiley, The New Republic, 26 Jan. 2022 The big moment/big arena may have led to angst early on, but St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca was pleased with the way his trio of senior leaders buckled down as the game went on. Olivia Nolan, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Mar. 2023 The sense of pressure and angst that many young adults feel about the future is also not unique to our time. Alexis Redding, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2021

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from German Angst, going back to Middle High German angest, going back to Old High German angust "distress, worry, anxiety," going back to West Germanic *angusti- (whence also Old Frisian ongesta, ongosta "anxiety, danger," Middle Dutch anxt, anxte), derivative, with a noun suffix *-ti- or *-sti-, of the Germanic base *angu- seen in Old English enge "narrow," ange "distressing," Old High German ango "anxious" — more at anger entry 1

Note: If the suffix in question is *-ti-, then the element *angus- is perhaps directly comparable with the s-stem noun reflected in Latin angor "suffocation, anguish," Sanskrit áṁhaḥ "anxiety, trouble" (see anger entry 1) or Latin angustus "narrow" (see anguish entry 1).

Verb

derivative of angst entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1872, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1988, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of angst was in 1872

Dictionary Entries Near angst

Cite this Entry

“Angst.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/angst. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

: a feeling of anxiety : dread

More from Merriam-Webster on angst

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