anxious
[angk-shuhs, ang-]
- full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried; solicitous: Her parents were anxious about her poor health.
- earnestly desirous; eager (usually followed by an infinitive or for): anxious to please; anxious for our happiness.
- attended with or showing solicitude or uneasiness: anxious forebodings.
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Origin of anxious
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Usage note
The earliest sense of anxious (in the 17th century) was “troubled” or “worried”: We are still anxious for the safety of our dear sons in battle. Its meaning “earnestly desirous, eager” arose in the mid-18th century: We are anxious to see our new grandson. Some insist that anxious must always convey a sense of distress or worry and object to its use in the sense of “eager,” but such use is fully standard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
afraidrestlessfidgetyfearfulnervousconcernedapprehensivedistresseduneasyuptightjitterycarefulscaredimpatientkeenenthusiasticthirstyaghastantsydisturbedExamples from the Web for anxious
Contemporary Examples
He said Jay was anxious and wondering why it was taking so long for the police to arrive.
Adnan Killed Her! No, Jay Did It! Serial’s Uncertain, True-to-Reality EndEmily Shire
December 18, 2014
A Simba commander yelled the order and anxious rebels began ricocheting bullets into the fleeing group.
During a midterm election with a larger share of anxious, older, whiter voters, that was enough.
The unemployed have a right to be anxious about the ravages on their families exacted by their unemployment.
On the one hand, she was anxious about her colleagues knowing about her kink.
Historical Examples
If it may be avoided, I will not see the whole of your youth consumed in anxious watchings.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Their interviews were first blissful, then anxious, then sad, then stormy.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
"It wouldn't do, sir, for the blind to be anxious," she replied.
I have been most anxious to give your feelings their full bent.
"I hope she's at home," was Grace's anxious thought as she rang the bell.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton CampusJessie Graham Flower
anxious
- worried and tense because of possible misfortune, danger, etc; uneasy
- fraught with or causing anxiety; worrying; distressingan anxious time
- intensely desirous; eageranxious for promotion
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin anxius; related to Latin angere to torment; see anger, anguish
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for anxious
adj.
1620s, from Latin anxius "solicitous, uneasy, troubled in mind" (also "causing anxiety, troublesome"), from angere, anguere "choke, squeeze," figuratively "torment, cause distress" (see anger (v.)). The same image is in Serbo-Croatian tjeskoba "anxiety," literally "tightness, narrowness." Related: Anxiously; anxiousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper