A formal, literary auxiliary that intensifies the preceding verb (almost always an emotion verb), emphasizing that the feeling or action is sincere and overwhelming. Derived historically from 말다 (to stop) + 지 않다 (not) — "cannot stop ~ing".

• •Formal/literary register, rarely used in speech
• •Common with emotion verbs: 감사해 마지않다 (be exceedingly grateful), 존경해 마지않다 (deeply respect), 사랑해 마지않다 (love dearly)