adjective
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causing worry; vexing
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tending to worry
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of worrisome
Explanation
If something is worrisome, it bothers or upsets you. Your nervous dog may find the sound of thunder extremely worrisome. When the news reports are full of worrisome developments — crime, climate change, local budget cuts — it can be reassuring to hear some good news, which is why many news broadcasts also include feel-good stories about lost pets reunited with their owners and kids raising money for the local library. Worrisome things do just what you'd think: they make you worry. This word first appeared around 1820 in North America, and it's been used ever since for things that cause distress.
Vocabulary lists containing worrisome
-some
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Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 1
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English Language Development Texts, Unit 3
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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.
It’s a bit more dangerous than having a baby at a younger age, but not drastically more worrisome.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Most worrisome of all is Manning’s inability to throw the football to his own team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
"If we believe that 'artificial' already encourages fear, 'super' seems like something far more worrisome," said Dube, calling it "a poor choice of new brand."
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
“Pausing mid-sentence to recall a name or word may seem worrisome to some, but for most people it’s just a sign of normal cognitive aging,” Tan writes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
More worrisome over the long run was the reality of Utah politics.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
