adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of worried
Explanation
The adjective worried describes someone who's uneasy or troubled about something. Imagine worried parents, up late, waiting for their teenager to arrive home from a party. Someone with a worried frown on his face always seems concerned. A worried email to your cousin who's traveling in the Middle East expresses your concern for her safety. The root of worried is the Old English word wyrgan, or strangle. It wasn't until the late 1800s that worried was used to describe feeling anxiety.
Vocabulary lists containing worried
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Hooked on a Feeling, List 2
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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.
More: Artificial intelligence has Americans worried about jobs.
From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026
The skies were hazier when he lived closer to Houston, Gonzalez said, and he isn’t worried.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Previous consumer sentiment polling has shown that a majority of Americans are worried about inflation and its impact on both their finances and the broader economy.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
It’s graduation season, so you know what that means: a lotta commencement speeches from wealthy figures of renown—all directed to debt-burdened, half-asleep, cap-and-gown-clad graduates worried about the frozen job market awaiting them.
From Slate • May 20, 2026
“Worried when it rained that the thatch would leak, worried when the sun was hot that the thatch would burn.”
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
