anxiety
Americannoun
-
anxieties
plural
-
distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune.
He felt anxiety about the possible loss of his job.
- Synonyms:
- disquiet, worry, foreboding, fear
- Antonyms:
- tranquility, serenity, certainty
-
earnest but tense desire; eagerness.
He had a keen anxiety to succeed in his work.
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Psychiatry. a state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.
noun
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a state of uneasiness or tension caused by apprehension of possible future misfortune, danger, etc; worry
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intense desire; eagerness
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psychol a state of intense apprehension or worry often accompanied by physical symptoms such as shaking, intense feelings in the gut, etc, common in mental illness or after a very distressing experience See also angst
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A state of apprehension and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation.
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◆ In psychiatry, a patient has an anxiety disorder ◆ if normal psychological functioning is disrupted or if anxiety persists without an identifiable cause.
Synonym Usage
See apprehension.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of anxiety
First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin anxietās, equivalent to anxi(us) anxious + -etās, variant of -itās before a vowel
Compare meaning
How does anxiety compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Anxiety is the vague, uneasy feeling you get when you're dreading something. Anxiety can also be a permanent state of nervousness that some people with mental illnesses experience, a milder version of panic. When a scary or unpleasant event is looming, like getting a family portrait taken the year you have braces, you might feel some anxiety. You might also feel anxiety about passing chemistry, especially if you’ve skipped a lot of classes. Someone who suffers from a mild or severe mental illness might feel anxiety all the time. Deep breathing, playing relaxing music, and medication have all been known to help reduce anxiety.
Vocabulary lists containing anxiety
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 4
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"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He read victim impact statements from affected children who described suffering from "nightmares, anxiety and a distrust of childcare providers".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Inspired by ecstatic nights at music festivals, it rejects anxiety in favour of what Bono calls "defiant joy".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Research shows that paying out of pocket for infertility treatments causes persistent anxiety that can stall women’s careers and future earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Lowenthal said earlier this year he was inspired to seek more safeguards for social media users, citing the anxiety and depression among children who grew up with access to cellphones, tablets and computer screens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
I’m back up two degrees, but it’s anxiety all mixed together with anger, which is confusing.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
It’s by no means the main thread, but it absolutely underpins Townshend’s personal anxieties.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026
Intel suffered its worst-ever daily decline as investors’ anxieties hit new highs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Tyree, a professor of cinema at Virginia Commonwealth University and the editor in chief of Film Quarterly, "popular movies always are reflecting these social anxieties of the day."
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
Gretchen Palek, head of alternative at Blumhouse Television, attributes the show’s success to the careful and sensitive approach to telling these terrifying experiences while highlighting real-life universal anxieties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
There was no evidence that they fed either her anxieties or her satisfactions.
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
