agmas nefesh

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Pronunciations

agmas nefesh (AHG-mahs NEH-fesh) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Sadness, disappointment, heartache.

  • n. Aggravation.

  • n. Anxiety, grief, ditress.

Example Sentences

  • "I had a lot of agmas nefesh when the Rosh Yeshiva placed me in the lower shiur." (Weiser)

  • "A chossid’s biggest pleasure is to shave off a little agmas nefesh from the Rebbe. So, I figured, the less problems I bring to the Rebbe, the bigger my reward would be, and the greater nachas I’d have." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Heb. עגמת נפש / עַגְמַת נפש agmat nefesh 'grief of the soul' > Yid. עגמת־נפֿש agmesnefesh 'grief, heartache, aggravation'

      • Who Uses This

      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      agmes nefesh

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