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{{Short description|Intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or inner turmoil}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2018}}
[[File:The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893 - Nasjonalgalleriet.png|thumb|262px|''[[The Scream]]'' (1893) by [[Edvard Munch]] represents his experience of "an infinite scream passing through nature."]]
{{Emotion}}

'''Angst''' is a feeling of [[anxiety]], apprehension, or insecurity.<ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/angst |title=Angst |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=2018-12-12 }}</ref> ''[[Anguish]]'' is its [[Romance languages|Latinate]] [[cognate|equivalent]], and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin.

== Etymology ==
The word ''angst'' was introduced into English from the [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word {{lang|da|angst}} and the [[German language|German]] word {{lang|de|Angst}}. It is attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of [[Søren Kierkegaard]] and [[Sigmund Freud]].<ref name="Merriam-Webster"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angst |title=Angst |dictionary=Dictionary.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=angst&searchmode=none |title=Angst |dictionary=Online Etymology Dictionary }}</ref> It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or inner turmoil.

In other languages (with words from the Latin {{lang|la|pavor}} for "fear" or "panic"),<ref>{{cite web |title=pavor, pavoris [m.] C |url=https://www.latin-is-simple.com/en/vocabulary/noun/13344/ |website=Latin Is Simple |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref> the derived words differ in meaning; for example, as in the French {{lang|fr|anxiété}} and {{lang|fr|peur}}. The word ''angst'' has existed in German since the 8th century, from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root {{lang|ine-x-proto|anghu-}}, "restraint" from which [[Old High German]] {{lang|goh|angust}} developed.<ref name="Collins">{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/angst |title=Angst |publisher=The Free Dictionary }}</ref> It is pre-cognate with the Latin {{lang|la|angustia}}, "tensity, tightness" and {{wikt-lang|la|angor}}, "choking, clogging"; compare to the [[Ancient Greek]] {{wikt-lang|grc|ἄγχω}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|ánkhō}}) "strangle". It entered English in the 19th century as a technical term used in [[psychiatry]], though earlier cognates existed, such as ''[[wikt:ange#Middle English|ange]]''.

== Existentialism ==
{{See also|Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard#Dread or anxiety}}
In [[Existentialism|existentialist]] [[philosophy]], the term ''angst'' carries a specific conceptual meaning. The use of the term was first attributed to [[Denmark|Danish]] [[philosopher]] [[Søren Kierkegaard]] (1813&ndash;1855). In ''[[The Concept of Anxiety]]'' (originally translated as ''The Concept of Dread''), Kierkegaard used the word ''Angest'' (in common Danish, ''angst'', meaning "dread" or "anxiety") to describe a profound and deep-seated condition. Where non-human animals are guided solely by [[instinct]], said Kierkegaard, human beings enjoy a [[freedom of choice]] that we find both appealing and terrifying.<ref name=Collins /><ref name=nyt1>{{cite news|first=Gordon|last=Marino|title=The Danish Doctor of Dread|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/the-danish-doctor-of-dread/|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|location=New York City|date=March 17, 2012|access-date=May 18, 2013}}</ref> It is the anxiety of understanding of being free when considering undefined possibilities of one's life and the immense responsibility of having the power of choice over them.<ref name=nyt1/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Backhouse|first1=Stephen|title=Kierkegaard: A Single Life|date=2016|publisher=HarperCollins Christian Publishing|isbn=9780310520894|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MLTxCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176|access-date=17 July 2017|language=en}}</ref> Kierkegaard's concept of angst reappeared in the works of existentialist philosophers who followed, such as [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], and [[Martin Heidegger]], each of whom developed the idea further in individual ways. While Kierkegaard's angst referred mainly to ambiguous feelings about moral freedom within a [[religion|religious personal belief system]], later existentialists discussed conflicts of personal principles, cultural norms, and [[existential despair]].

== Music ==
Existential angst makes its appearance in classical [[musical composition]] in the early twentieth century, both as a result of philosophical developments and as a reflection of the war-torn times. Notable composers whose works are often linked with the concept include [[Gustav Mahler]], [[Richard Strauss]] (operas ''{{Lang|de|[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]}}'' and ''{{Lang|de|[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]}}''), [[Claude-Achille Debussy|Claude Debussy]] (opera ''{{Lang|fr|[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]}}'', ballet ''[[Jeux]]''), [[Jean Sibelius]] (especially the [[Symphony No. 4 (Sibelius)|Fourth Symphony]]), [[Arnold Schoenberg]] (''[[A Survivor from Warsaw]]''), [[Alban Berg]], [[Francis Poulenc]] (opera ''[[Dialogues of the Carmelites]]''), [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (opera ''[[Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)|Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk]]'', symphonies and chamber music), [[Béla Bartók]] (opera ''[[Bluebeard's Castle]]''), and [[Krzysztof Penderecki]] (especially ''[[Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima]]'').{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}
 
Angst began to be discussed in reference to popular music in the mid- to late 1950s, amid widespread concerns over [[Cold War|international tensions]] and [[nuclear proliferation]]. [[Jeff Nuttall]]'s book ''[[Bomb Culture]]'' (1968) traced angst in popular culture to [[Hiroshima]]. Dread was expressed in works of [[folk rock]] such as [[Bob Dylan]]'s "[[Masters of War]]" (1963) and "[[A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall]]". The term often makes an appearance in reference to [[punk rock]], [[grunge]], [[nu metal]], and works of [[emo]] where expressions of [[Depression (mood)|melancholy]], existential despair, or [[nihilism]] predominate.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

== See also ==
{{div col}}
*{{annotated link|Anger}}
*{{annotated link|Byronic hero}}
*{{annotated link|Emotion}}
*{{annotated link|Existentialism}}
*{{annotated link|Franz Kafka}}
*{{annotated link|Emotion classification#Lists of emotions}}
*{{annotated link|Death anxiety}}
*{{annotated link|Sehnsucht|link_lang=de}}
*{{annotated link|Social alienation|Alienation}}
*{{annotated link|Sturm und Drang|link_lang=de}}
*{{annotated link|Terror management theory}}
*{{annotated link|Weltschmerz|link_lang=de}}
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{wiktionary-inline}}

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[[Category:Anxiety]]
[[Category:Emotions]]
[[Category:Existentialist concepts]]