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; related to anguish, Dutch angst, Swedish ångest.
1
Emotional turmoil; painful sadness; anguish.
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.1979, Peter Hammill, Mirror images:
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.2007, Martyn Bone, Perspectives on Barry Hannah, page 3:
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.
Chiefly fanfiction
General: a story with a general theme. It is neither romance or angst but may incorporate elements of all other genres.(Can we date this quote?), Linda Green, Entering Potter's World: A Guide for Fanfiction Writers, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 21:
Fans prefer fluff to other types of fic. But angst (dramatic stories where characters have a wide range of emotions, including ... angsty ones) comes in a close second.2017 October 31, Ashley J. Barner, The Case for Fanfiction: Exploring the Pleasures and Practices of a Maligned Craft, McFarland, →ISBN, page 67:
1 more example
There are plots that take off from the discovery of another characters' letters or diaries (e.g., CarolB's “First Attachment," an angst fanfic in which Marianne Dashwood discovers Colonel Brandon's diary related to his youthful relationship with Eliza)2020 October 2, Mike Goode, Romantic Capabilities: Blake, Scott, Austen, and the New Messages of Old Media, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 193:
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; related to anguish, Dutch angst, Swedish ångest.
In the second scene, the camera switches to the father listening, angsting, dying inside, but saying nothing.2001, Joseph P Natoli, Postmodern Journeys: Film and Culture, 1996-1998:
She'd never angsted so much about her head as she had in the past twenty-four hours. Why the hell hadn't she just left it alone?2006, Liz Ireland, Three Bedrooms in Chelsea: