anguishes 1 of 2

noun

plural of anguish
as in pains
a state of great suffering of body or mind as a new teacher, she was in real anguish over the decision to report the cheating

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

anguishes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of anguish
1
as in plagues
to cause persistent suffering to she was anguished by the fear that her sons would die in the war

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grieves
to feel deep sadness or mental pain I anguished over the loss of my father for years afterwards

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for anguishes
  1. pains
  2. plagues
  3. grieves
  4. distresses
  5. persecutes
  6. aches
  7. agonies
  8. afflicts
Noun
  • Flock fights to obscure 100,000 cameras For Flock protesters, cases like the one in Florida are disturbing, since Flock appears to take great pains to obscure who owns cameras where and how large its camera network is.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Communications obtained under the state’s public records law — first published by the Animal Welfare Institute and reported on by the Salt Lake Tribune — show Utah officials took pains to protect the farm’s privacy amid the outbreak.
    — Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of pains
Verb
  • The depression that plagues him in winters is nowhere to be found.
    — David Mack, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Walker, who leads the NFL with 360 rushing yards, also is adept at avoiding an issue that plagues many ball carriers and receivers in the NFL.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of plagues
Verb
  • Every time someone dies, somebody grieves, a mother, a partner is bereft.
    — Shelby Hartman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Pi-o grieves the death of his friend, unable to get out of bed for days.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of grieves
Noun
  • Pain, infection, medication side effects, and other physical and emotional distresses may be expressed through shouting, intimidating gestures, kicking, pushing, or punching.
    — Jordan Rau, NPR, 19 July 2026
Definition of distresses
Verb
  • China, which jails human rights activists in Hong Kong, persecutes Uyghurs, has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and has committed genocide against the Falun Gong, is on the UN Human Rights Council.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • In Russia, the civilian repressive apparatus persecutes the military, which leaps at every chance for revenge.
    — Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Definition of persecutes
Verb
  • The majority of patients don't have symptoms, but about one in five will experience symptoms two to six days after being bitten, including fever, headaches, body aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting or a rash.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Many infected people don’t get sick, but some experience fever, flu-like symptoms and — notoriously — aches.
    — Mike Stobbe, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of aches
Noun
  • There are few harsher agonies than waiting, and throughout the great expanse of the CPKC ‘International’ Grand Prix presented by Rolex at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’, two riders felt that in very different ways.
    — Tilly Berendt, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Sadly, in discouraging all the phantom agonies, FIFA inadvertently seems to have done away with the equally farcical phenomenon that is Magic Spray®.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of agonies
Verb
  • The uncertainty that afflicts others about how to dress for one’s age, one’s job or even the weather doesn’t seem to unsettle this cohort.
    — The Learning Network, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Ortega brings the right wide-eyed wonder to this kindly android that just wants to be Josie’s pal, having no idea about a secret medical condition that afflicts Josie.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of afflicts
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

anguished
anguishes
anguishing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Anguishes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anguishes. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All