Anguishing

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Causing intense physical or emotional pain, often leading to deep distress or suffering; experiencing severe mental anguish or sorrow, resulting in torment or grief; involving a state of extreme worry or distress that creates a profound sense of discomfort
2. Resulting in acute or prolonged suffering, whether through physical affliction or psychological turmoil; undergoing a process of emotional pain that can lead to hopelessness or despair; characterized by feelings of dread or anxiety that provoke significant unease
3. Inflicting substantial distress or suffering, whether through physical injury or psychological heartbreak; feeling overwhelmed by emotional pain that creates a state of unease; describing a condition marked by considerable struggle and worry, often leading to deep sadness

Etymology: The root of "anguish" is a picture of physical tightness. Latin "angustia" meant "narrowness," and it came from "angustus," meaning "narrow" or "difficult," which in turn grew from the Latin verb "angere," "to press together." Distress was felt as a squeezing, a space too small to breathe in, and that sense carried into Old French as "angoisse." English took the noun in the Middle English period, and the verb followed from it, formed from the Old French verb "angoissier." So "anguishing," the form used here as a participle and gerund, is simply the ongoing form of that verb, carrying the same sense of being pressed into pain. Its Germanic cousin "angst" arrived in English much later, from German, but shares the same ancient root, as does "anger."

Synonyms: tormenting, distressing, suffering, agonizing, painful

Antonyms: comforting, soothing, relieving, calming, healing