in a stew

Idioms and Phrases

Agitated, alarmed, or anxious. For example, Mary was in a stew about how her cake was going to turn out . It is also put as get in or into a stew , as in Every Saturday the minister got in a stew about Sunday's sermon . This expression transfers the mixture of meat and vegetables constituting a stew to overheated mixed emotions. [c. 1800]

Related Words

• agitated
• angry
• delirious
• distraught
• frenetic
• frenzied
• furious
• hectic
• mad
• overwrought
• weird