anxiety
Americannoun
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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
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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:
"Calling a woman's concern about her own body "anxiety" brings us close to that history," she added.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Ken Skates said he sought help after his symptoms were at their most severe while studying at the University of Cambridge and he was eventually diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder and depression.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
They’ve read the research documenting how the outdoors, including urban green spaces, improves cognition, social connection and physical strength, while decreasing depression and anxiety in all ages, but especially seniors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
The French government had promoted the ban as a way to better protect young people from the harmful effects associated with social media platforms, including anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and online harassment.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
It had been five days since he had first notified them, and during that time, Dasch's fear and anxiety had gotten the best of him.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
That came as a relief to Opel's workers and the city, though anxieties remain high as the broader auto industry remains under pressure and questions remain about the future shape of the Chinese partnership.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Now it seems that Amabile is bringing people along on his healing journey, having documented his anxieties before surgery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
To some, it may feel like Araki is flattening complex social mores and misunderstanding the anxieties behind this era of semi-celibacy.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
Back in Cameron, Fewell is less concerned with Europe's anxieties than with what the boom means for a community finally going from survival to hope.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
White immigrants, in contrast, were not so easy to identify and separate, thus amplifying the anxieties of ethnic contamination and miscegenation in the 1920s.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions 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.
