# angst

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈæŋ(k)st/ · frequency rank #20,553

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

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **ant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-ant)
- **ans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-ans)
- **ants** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-ants)
- **anus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-anus)
- **Aust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-aust)
- **ANSI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-ansi)
- **Angus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-angus)
- **anise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-anise)
- **august** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angst-vs-august)
- **Ang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ang-vs-angst)
- **AGS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ags-vs-angst)
- **Ange** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ange-vs-angst)
- **angry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angry-vs-angst)
- **angel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angel-vs-angst)
- **anger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/anger-vs-angst)
- **angle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angle-vs-angst)
- **anglo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/anglo-vs-angst)
- **Angie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/angie-vs-angst)
- **aight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aight-vs-angst)
- **amongst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/amongst-vs-angst)

## Common misspellings (8)
`agnst`, `anggst`, `angsst`, `angstt`, `angts`, `anngst`, `ansgt`, `nagst`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/angst