worry

American  

[wur-ee, wuhr-ee] / ˈwɜr i, ˈwʌr i /

verb (used without object)

• worries,
  present (3rd person singular)
• worried,
  past participle,  past
• worrying
  present participle

1. to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

2. to move with effort.

   an old car worrying uphill.

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verb (used with object)

• worries,
  present (3rd person singular)
• worried,
  past participle,  past
• worrying
  present participle

1. to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.

   Synonyms:

   distress, badger, hector, harry, tease

2. to seize, especially by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does another.

3. to harass by repeated biting, snapping, etc.

noun

• worries
  plural

1. a worried condition or feeling; uneasiness or anxiety.

   Synonyms:

   fear, misgiving, disquiet, solicitude, apprehension

2. a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.

3. the act of worrying.

4. Fox Hunting. the action of the hounds in tearing to pieces the carcass of a fox.

verb phrase

1. worry along / through to progress or succeed by constant effort, despite difficulty.

   to worry through an intolerable situation.

idioms

1. no worries, Also not to worry

   1. Don’t be worried or troubled; everything will be fine.

      We'll help you move your stuff, no worries!

   2. (used as a conventional reply to thank you or thanks).

      Oh, no worries, it was fun having you come with us!

worry British  

/ ˈwʌrɪ /

verb

1. to be or cause to be anxious or uneasy, esp about something uncertain or potentially dangerous

2. (tr) to disturb the peace of mind of; bother

   don't worry me with trivialities

3. (intr; often foll by along or through) to proceed despite difficulties

4. to struggle or work

   to worry away at a problem

5. (tr) (of a dog, wolf, etc) to lacerate or kill by biting, shaking, etc

6. to bite, tear, or gnaw (at) with the teeth

   a dog worrying a bone

7. (tr) to move as specified, esp by repeated pushes

   they worried the log into the river

8. (tr) to touch or poke repeatedly and idly

9. obsolete to choke or cause to choke

10. informal you need not worry

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noun

1. a state or feeling of anxiety

2. a person or thing that causes anxiety

3. an act of worrying

4. informal an expression used to express agreement or to convey that something is proceeding or has proceeded satisfactorily; no problem

Usage

What are other ways to say worry? The noun worry means “a worried condition or feeling.” How does worry compare to synonyms care and concern? Learn more on Thesaurus.com. 

Synonym Usage

Worry, annoy, harass all mean to disturb or interfere with someone's comfort or peace of mind. To worry is to cause anxiety, apprehension, or care: to worry one's parents. To annoy is to vex or irritate by continued repetition of interferences: to annoy the neighbors. Harass implies long-continued disturbance, torment, or persecution: to harrass a creditor.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• worrier
  noun
• worriless
  adjective
• worrying
  adjective
• worryingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• worries
  plural

Participles

• worrying
  present
• worried
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• worry
  simple
• worries
  simple
• have worried
  perfect
• has worried
  perfect
• am worrying
  progressive
• are worrying
  progressive
• is worrying
  progressive
• have been worrying
  perfect progressive
• has been worrying
  perfect progressive

Past

• worried
  simple
• had worried
  perfect
• was worrying
  progressive
• were worrying
  progressive
• had been worrying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will worry
  simple
• will have worried
  perfect
• will be worrying
  progressive
• will have been worrying
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of worry

First recorded before 900; Middle English weryen, werwen, wyrwyn “to strangle, bite, harass,” Old English wyrgan “to strangle”; cognate with German würgen

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Explanation

The verb worry is an anxious word; it means to be concerned or nervous. If you sent your carrier pigeon out in the morning to deliver a message, you might worry if it hadn't returned by the afternoon. When you worry, you feel uneasy — the way you might worry that you've got spinach in your teeth when you're at a job interview. When it's an animal doing the worrying, it takes on a different meaning: a dog will worry a bone — or gnaw on it and play with it, for hours. The word worry comes from the Old English wyrgan, which originally meant "strangle," and changed over the years to mean first "harass," and then "cause anxiety to."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

worry worries worried worrying

However, some businesses on the island worry that it will not be enough to offset global prices.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Not to worry, a new crop will emerge in the spring, as the ancient magic begins anew.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

A prominent ETF tracking the chip sector is set to fall for the eighth consecutive day as investors continue to worry about the state of artificial-intelligence spending.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

"People don't need to worry because the fuel is available," he added, noting more fuel shipments are expected to arrive within this week.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

But if you don’t have a name, don’t worry.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Yields have recently dropped away from multiyear highs, in tandem with growing worries about the sustainability of debt-funded AI investments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Artificial-intelligence spending worries have spread to other industries.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

But the scale of the boom—and its expanding reach into more economies—is seeding new worries about the global consequences if the AI mania ends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

AI stocks have been hit by worries about Anthropic's IPO but it isn't all bad news.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

My worries about Deputy Collins and Lettie and everything else faded away.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

But the industry is increasingly worried about so-called silent risk, where mainstream policies for businesses using AI neither affirmatively cover nor exclude losses caused by the technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

When Sexton was sidelined at the beginning of the preseason, Redick said he was not worried about the guard’s status for the Oct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Watson said he was worried that connectivity across the UK could be "severely reduced" as a result of the changes.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

University student Fadumo Ali worried that a disputed federal election "could undermine governance and national unity".

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Isn’t she worried she might take away my ability to decide for myself what kind of clothes I love by telling me what she likes?

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Austen will never go out of style because we’re not going to reach a point when we stop worrying about money, status and the gobsmacking difficulty of telling someone you love them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

At the time he said that although he did not yet have the full details it was a "very worrying and deeply disturbing situation".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

I keep worrying about healthcare, long-term care, inflation, a long bear market and living to 95.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Sometimes you want to make a substitution to an order without worrying whether it will get lost between the person wearing the headset and the person assembling your food.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

I sighed and snatched the protein bar, popped open its wrapper in my fist, and snapped at her to stop worrying so much.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

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Related Words

• anguish
• apprehension
• concern
• doubt
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• misery
• misgiving
• pain
• problem
• uncertainty
• uneasiness
• woe

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