angst

/ˈæŋ(k)st/

//ˈæŋ(k)st// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"angst" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“angst” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,553. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,553
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Emotional turmoil; painful sadness; anguish.

Corpus desk

Index EN-angst · angst · English

angst · rank #20,553 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,553
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Algerian

Nearest frequency peer: Algerian (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “angst”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “angst” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

angst vs ant
60% similar
angst vs ans
60% similar
angst vs ants
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for angst
PropertyValue
Headwordangst
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæŋ(k)st/
Letters5
Frequency rank#20,553
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “angst”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).angstlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Algerian” (#20,552), “antiquities” (#20,554), “advisable” (#20,551). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “angst” is #20,553. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around angst (IPA /ˈæŋ(k)st/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,553 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for angst, with forms such as "agnst", "anggst", and "angsst". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ant", "ans", "ants", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Angst or Danish angst; attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Søren Kierkegaard. Initially capitalized (as in German and contemporaneous Danish), the term first began to be written with a lowercase "a" a… The correct English form is angst, spelled A-N-G-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Emotional turmoil; painful sadness; anguish.
  2. 2
    A feeling of acute but vague anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression, especially philosophical anxiety.
  3. 3
    Fiction focusing on characters experiencing strong emotions and conflicts with other characters.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how angst appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I've begun to regret that we'd ever met / Between the dimensions. / It gets such a strain to pretend that the change / Is anything but cheap. / With your infant pique and your angst pretensions / Sometimes you act like such a creep.
  2. Harry's adolescence is theatrical and gaudy, and many of its key scenes have a lurid and camp quality that is appropriate to the exaggerated mood-shifting and self-dramatizing of teen angst.

Etymology

Borrowed from German Angst or Danish angst; attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Søren Kierkegaard. Initially capitalized (as in German and contemporaneous Danish), the term first began to be written with a lowercase "a" around 1940–44. The German and Danish terms both derive from Middle High German angest, from Old High German angust, from Proto-Germanic *angustiz; Dutch angst is cognate. Compare Swedish ångest.

This word in other languages

angoisse(Français)Aufgewühltheit(Deutsch)angústia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • agnst
  • anggst
  • angsst
  • angstt
  • angts
  • anngst
  • ansgt
  • nagst

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of angst - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

agnst2anggst1angsst1angstt1angts2anngst1ansgt2nagst2
Edit distance from "angst"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "angst"?
"angst" is spelled A-N-G-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæŋ(k)st/.
What does "angst" mean?
As a noun, "angst" means: Emotional turmoil; painful sadness; anguish.
What words are commonly confused with "angst"?
"angst" is commonly confused with "ant", "ans", "ants". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "angst"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "angst" is /ˈæŋ(k)st/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "angst"?
Borrowed from German Angst or Danish angst; attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Søren Kierkegaard. Initially capitalized (as in German and contemporaneous Danish), the term first began to be written with a lower... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "angst", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Bayer#20,565bison#20,570bytes#20,578tweak#20,526

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

birdie8 variantsburrito8 variantsUNISON8 variantsundead8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list