concern

[kuhn-surn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR concern ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to relate to; be connected with; be of interest or importance to; affect: The water shortage concerns us all.

to interest or engage (used reflexively or in the passive, often followed by with or in): She concerns herself with every aspect of the business.

to trouble, worry, or disquiet: I am concerned about his health.

noun

something that relates or pertains to a person; business; affair: Law is the concern of lawyers.

a matter that engages a person's attention, interest, or care, or that affects a person's welfare or happiness: The party was no concern of his.

worry, solicitude, or anxiety: to show concern for someone in trouble.

important relation or bearing: This news is of concern to all of us.

a commercial or manufacturing company or establishment: the headquarters of an insurance concern.

Informal. any material object or contrivance.

Origin of concern

1375–1425; late Middle English concernen (< Middle French concerner) < Medieval Latin concernere to relate to, distinguish (Late Latin: to mix for sifting), equivalent to Latin con- con- + cernere to sift

Related formso·ver·con·cern, noun, verb (used with object)pre·con·cern, noun, verb (used with object)self-con·cern, noun

Synonyms for concern

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR concern ON THESAURUS.COM

1. touch, involve. 3. disturb. 5. burden, responsibility. 8. firm, house.

Synonym study

6. Concern, care, worry connote an uneasy and burdened state of mind. Concern implies an anxious sense of interest in something: concern over a friend's misfortune. Care suggests a heaviness of spirit caused by dread, or by the constant pressure of burdensome demands: Poverty weighs a person down with care. Worry is an active state of agitated uneasiness and restless apprehension: He was distracted by worry over the stock market.

Antonyms for concern

6. indifference.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for concern

interest, matter, thing, involvement, burden, worry, apprehension, attention, unease, consideration, disturb, perturb, bother, regard, involve, trouble, firm, affair, transaction, entanglement

Examples from the Web for concern

Contemporary Examples of concern

We have to share those feelings of concern that the people are feeling.
Mexico’s Priests Are Marked for Murder
Jason McGahan
January 7, 2015
This concern ceased after the Spanish warned of severe punitive measures on the family members of suicides.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind
Brin-Jonathan Butler
December 19, 2014
The concern is that a public accusation would result in an escalation.
U.S. Should Make North Korea Pay for Sony Hack
Gordon G. Chang
December 18, 2014
Some of the concern over student debt is likely driven by the startling headline numbers.
The Student Loan Crisis That Isn’t About Kids at Harvard
Monica Potts
November 30, 2014
But concern about the lake is fuelling hostilities that could prove problematic for the government and investors.
China’s Nicaragua Canal Could Spark a New Central America Revolution
Nina Lakhani
November 30, 2014

Historical Examples of concern

The devotion to and concern for our institutions are deep and sincere.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
She looked with concern and anger upon me—No compliance, I find!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
America, at its best, matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Austin rose and bent over Katherine's chair in some concern.
Viviette
William J. Locke
But should it not, and should it fall into their hands, it would not concern me but for your sake.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson

British Dictionary definitions for concern

concern

verb (tr)

to relate to; be of importance or interest to; affect

(usually foll by with or in) to involve or interest (oneself)he concerns himself with other people's affairs

noun

something that affects or is of importance to a person; affair; business

regard for or interest in a person or a thinghe felt a strong concern for her

anxiety, worry, or solicitude

important bearing or relationhis news has great concern for us

a commercial company or enterprise

informal a material thing, esp one of which one has a low opinion

Word Origin for concern

C15: from Late Latin concernere to mingle together, from Latin com- together + cernere to sift, distinguish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for concern

early 15c., "perceive, distinguish," also "refer to, relate to," from Middle French concerner, from Medieval Latin concernere "concern, touch, belong to," figurative use of Late Latin concernere "to sift, mix, as in a sieve," from Latin com- "with" (see com-) + cernere "to sift," hence "perceive, comprehend" (see crisis). Apparently the sense of the prefix shifted to intensive in Medieval Latin. Meaning "worry" is 17c. Related: Concerned; concerning. Letter opening to whom it may concern attested by 1740.

1580s, from concern (v.).

Idioms and Phrases with concern

concern

see as far as that goes (is concerned); to whom it may concern.