What does anxious mean?

Definitions for anxious
ˈæŋk ʃəs, ˈæŋ-anx·ious

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word anxious.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. anxious(p), dying(p)adjective

    eagerly desirous

    "anxious to see the new show at the museum"; "dying to hear who won"

  2. anxious, nervous, queasy, uneasy, unquietadjective

    causing or fraught with or showing anxiety

    "spent an anxious night waiting for the test results"; "cast anxious glances behind her"; "those nervous moments before takeoff"; "an unquiet mind"

Wiktionary

  1. anxiousadjective

    Full of anxiety or disquietude; greatly concerned or solicitous, especially respecting something future or unknown; being in painful suspense;applied to persons; as, anxious for the issue of a battle.

  2. anxiousadjective

    Accompanied with, or causing, anxiety; worrying;applied to things; as, anxious labor.

  3. anxiousadjective

    Earnestly desirous; as, anxious to please.

  4. Etymology: anxius, from ango; akin to ἄγχειν. See anger.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. ANXIOUSadjective

    Etymology: anxius, Lat.

    His pensive cheek upon his hand reclin’d,
    And anxious thoughts revolving in his mind. Dryden.

    With beating hearts the dire event they wait,
    Anxious, and trembling for the birth of fate. Alexander Pope.

    In youth alone, unhappy mortals live;
    But ah! the mighty bliss is fugitive;
    Discolour’d sickness, anxious labour come,
    And age, and death’s inexorable doom. John Dryden, Virgil.

    There being no writings we need to be solicitous about the meaning of, but those that contain truths we are to believe, or laws we are to obey, we may be less anxious about the sense of other authours. John Locke.

    Who anxious of neglect, suspecting change,
    Consults her pride, and meditates revenge. George Granville.

Wikipedia

  1. Anxious

    Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat whereas the latter is defined as the emotional response to a real threat. It is often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination.Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing. It is often accompanied by muscular tension, restlessness, fatigue, inability to catch one's breath, tightness in the abdominal region, nausea, and problems in concentration. Anxiety is closely related to fear, which is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat (fight or flight response); anxiety involves the expectation of future threat including dread. People facing anxiety may withdraw from situations which have provoked anxiety in the past.Though anxiety is a typical human response, when excessive or persisting beyond developmentally appropriate periods it may be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. There are multiple forms of anxiety disorder (such as generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder) with specific clinical definitions, although they share most of their risk factors. Part of the definition of an anxiety disorder, which distinguishes it from everyday anxiety, is that it is persistent, typically lasting 6 months or more, although the criterion for duration is intended as a general guide with allowance for some degree of flexibility and is sometimes of shorter duration in children. Anxiety disorders are among the most persistent mental problems and often last decades.

ChatGPT

  1. anxious

    Anxious can be defined as a state of uneasiness or distress caused by worry, fear, or nervousness about uncertain future events or outcomes. It is characterized by heightened levels of apprehension and restlessness, often accompanied by physical symptoms such as a racing heart, excessive sweating, and difficulty in concentrating or making decisions.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Anxiousadjective

    full of anxiety or disquietude; greatly concerned or solicitous, esp. respecting something future or unknown; being in painful suspense; -- applied to persons; as, anxious for the issue of a battle

  2. Anxiousadjective

    accompanied with, or causing, anxiety; worrying; -- applied to things; as, anxious labor

  3. Anxiousadjective

    earnestly desirous; as, anxious to please

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Anxious

    angk′shus, adj. uneasy regarding something doubtful: solicitous.—n. Anxī′ety, state of being anxious—adv. An′xiously.—n. An′xiousness. [L. anxiusang-ĕre, to press tightly. See Anger, Anguish.]

Suggested Resources

  1. Anxious

    Eager vs. Anxious -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Eager and Anxious.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'anxious' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3174

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'anxious' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4380

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'anxious' in Adjectives Frequency: #429

How to pronounce anxious?

How to say anxious in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of anxious in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of anxious in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of anxious in a Sentence

  1. Elissa Strauss:

    We know kids today are more anxious than ever, and we know at least some of the reason why is that they don't have enough downtime, i'm all for some structure during this period, for both kids' sanity and parents', but I think we should balance it out with some good old fashioned messing around the house.

  2. Koorana Crocodile Farm -RRB- Lever:

    Weve had a couple of people get in touch with us about their relatives that have gone missing in the northern Queensland area and theyre anxious to find out theres been nothing heard of these people, theyve just disappeared, well certainly keep these people informed of any new news that we can get.

  3. Jill Biden:

    It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others. It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus.

  4. Wes Climer:

    Nikki and Tim have a lot of friends all across the state and for very good reasons. Nikki was an absolutely fantastic governor. Tim is an absolutely outstanding senator. And I think a lot of folks in South Carolina are anxious to see what either or both of them decide with regard to a presidential decision.

  5. George Rodrigue:

    This is not a piece that would have ever been sold, we're really anxious to get it back.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

anxious#10000#13864#100000

Translations for anxious

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"anxious." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/anxious>.

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    one whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action
    A askant
    B splay
    C sesquipedalian
    D motile

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