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excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain:
the anguish of grief.
to inflict with distress, suffering, or pain.
to suffer, feel, or exhibit anguish:
to anguish over the loss of a loved one.
Contemporary Examples

Joan hit the glass ceiling hard this past season and Hendricks did a great job conveying her torment and anguish.
Emmys 2013: What Show Should Win It All? Our Critics Debate Kevin Fallon, Marlow Stern September 20, 2013

We entangle them in a web of fear, of helplessness and anguish.
Introducing Tzipi Livni to the Occupation Avner Gvaryahu September 30, 2013

After mom cries out in anguish and frustration on hearing the verdict, the ugly side of the protests rears its head.
Michael Brown’s Stepfather Tells Crowd, ‘Burn This Bitch Down’ Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video November 24, 2014

Despite the anguish, she was careful to maintain her responsibilities to her own children and ageing parents.
The Woman Who Saved Syria’s Jews Emma Beals March 16, 2014

It is hard not to be moved when Americans talk about the anguish of losing their jobs, giving voice to the numbing statistics.
Sob-Story Campaign Between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama Turns on Personal Pain Howard Kurtz May 24, 2012

Historical Examples

Woe to the hearts that heard, unmoved,The mother’s anguish’d shriek!
The Liberty Minstrel George W. Clark

We learn nothing, we take no forward step, except as we are whipped to it by anguish.
The Conquest of Fear Basil King

I had cast off all feeling, subdued all anguish to riot in the excess of my despair.
Frankenstein Mary Shelley

There was anguish in the cry torn from the girl’s throat in the sudden access of despair.
Within the Law Marvin Dana

A cry of anguish burst from the heart of kind Mother Etienne.
The Curly-Haired Hen Auguste Vimar

noun
extreme pain or misery; mental or physical torture; agony
verb
to afflict or be afflicted with anguish
n.

c.1200, “acute bodily or mental suffering,” from Old French anguisse, angoisse “choking sensation, distress, anxiety, rage,” from Latin angustia (plural angustiae) “tightness, straitness, narrowness;” figuratively “distress, difficulty,” from ang(u)ere “to throttle, torment” (see anger (v.)).
v.

early 14c., intransitive and reflexive; mid-14c., transitive, from Old French anguissier (Modern French angoisser), from anguisse (see anguish (n.)). Related: Anguished; anguishing.