worry beads

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. a string of beads manipulated to relieve worry and tension.

worry beads

plural noun

1. a string of beads that when fingered or played with supposedly relieves nervous tension

Word History and Origins

Origin of worry beads¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

He held a cloth mask in his hands, and he fiddled with the mask's strings, as if they were worry beads.

Read more on BBC

And he fidgets more and more with the worry beads he carries all the time in this pandemic year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Konstantinos Varelas twisted a string of blue komboloi — Greek worry beads — outside his family’s restaurant on Main Street in El Monte.

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It is then that people reach for the worry beads.

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The beauty of Cohen’s music, the power of his lyrics, the complexity of his character, the Greek worry beads he carried in his pocket even when he looked incredibly calm and composed – “Darling,” he would say, “I was born in a suit.”

Read more on The Guardian