anxious
Americanadjective
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full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried; apprehensive.
Her parents were anxious about her poor health.
- Synonyms:
- enthusiastic , solicitous , uneasy , fearful , disturbed , concerned
-
earnestly desirous; eager (usually followed by an infinitive orfor ): anxious for our happiness.
anxious to please;
anxious for our happiness.
-
attended with or showing solicitude or uneasiness.
anxious forebodings.
adjective
-
worried and tense because of possible misfortune, danger, etc; uneasy
-
fraught with or causing anxiety; worrying; distressing
an anxious time
-
intensely desirous; eager
anxious for promotion
Other Word Forms
- anxiously adverb
- anxiousness noun
- quasi-anxious adjective
- unanxious adjective
Etymology
Origin of anxious
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin anxius “worried, distressed,” derivative of angere “to strangle, pain, distress”; anguish, -ous
Compare meaning
How does anxious compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
"People were saying: 'Well, kids are getting more anxious. There must be a reason -- let's ban social media'," argued one signatory, Axel Bruns, a digital media professor at Queensland University of Technology.
From Barron's
When Catherine Duncan’s mother-in-law was dying of pancreatic cancer years ago, she was anxious, scared and deeply sad.
Throughout, he said, he and his wife kept calling each other, anxious and scared.
From BBC
In a packed waiting hall outside the doctor's consulting room, anxious parents stood in line with children sneezing, coughing or complaining of breathing difficulties.
From BBC
“Combining travel on the busiest days of the year with big group events can make you frazzled or anxious,” said Manhattan psychotherapist Justena Kavanagh.
From Salon
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.
