unease

American  

[uhn-eez] / ʌnˈiz /

noun

1. a state of discomfort or restlessness in the body or mind.

   Anxiety may break through and make itself felt in physical symptoms, such as jitters or unease.

   These initiatives seem to have emerged from the growing unease at the uneven pattern of economic recovery.

---

Etymology

Origin of unease

First recorded in 1300–50; un- ¹ ( def. ) + ease ( def. )

Example Sentences

When Kafka died of tuberculosis in 1924 at age 40, he was virtually unknown; by the late 1930s he was an international phenomenon, his surname a signifier of bureaucratic inhumanity and modern unease.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

It’s possible to hold on to two truths at once and recognize the distinct unease of such grasping, I told my friend.

From Salon • May 14, 2026

She didn't expect to get a different result to Michelle, but she had to do something about her growing feelings of unease that Alex's family was not her own.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

But there’s still unease; 41% of respondents expect a bear market within the next 12 months, up from 38% in October.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

There was perhaps some discontent or unease also in Ogion's mind, for he had spent all summer and autumn alone up on the mountain, and only now near Sunreturn was come back to his hearthside.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• angst
• apprehension
• disquiet
• doubt
• dread
• foreboding
• jitters
• misgiving
• mistrust
• nervousness
• panic
• restlessness
• uncertainty
• uneasiness
• worry