anguished
/ˈaŋɡwɪʃt
/adjective
Experiencing or expressing severe mental or physical pain or suffering: he gave an anguished cry...
- When she finished dressing almost falling in the act, she heard an anguished cry of pain.
- It is a harrowing experience to hear a squeal of tires followed by a thump and then the anguished cries of an animal in pain.
- All of these characters are subjects whose bodies convey an anguished message about pain and privation that cannot be articulated any other way.
Synonyms
agonized, tormented, racked with pain/suffering, tortured, harrowed;
miserable, unhappy, sad, broken-hearted, heartbroken, grief-stricken, wretched, sorrowful, sorrowing, distressed, desolate, devastated, despairing
informal cut up
literary dolorous
Origin
Early 17th century: past participle of anguish (verb) in the rare sense 'distress with severe mental or physical pain', from Old French anguissier, from ecclesiastical Latin angustiare 'to distress', from Latin angustia.