agony aunt

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agony aunt

Where it comes from

From the much earlier British term agony column, initially used for personal columns and then for advice columns, and the informal use of aunt for any older female fictive kin.

noun agony aunts · Agony Aunt · agony aunty · agony auntie

Ireland, UK, informal Synonym of advice columnist, a writer of an advice column in a newspaper or other periodical, especially an actually or assumed female writer of such a column. You should write in to the agony aunt; she'll sort it out for you.
Similar: advice columnist
Ireland, UK, informal Someone commonly consulted for advice about personal problems. I'm sick of everyone coming to me with their problems—I never wanted to be an agony aunt!

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noun someone consulted for advice about personal problems

中文	垃圾桶 lājītǒng

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MLA

"agony aunt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/agony%20aunt. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

agony aunt. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/agony%20aunt

Chicago

"agony aunt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/agony%20aunt.

BibTeX

@misc{agony_aunt_2026,
  title = {agony aunt},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/agony%20aunt},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}