Definitions for worry
ˈwɜr i, ˈwʌr iwor·ry

Princeton's WordNet(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. concern, worry, headache, vexationnoun

   something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness

   "New York traffic is a constant concern"; "it's a major worry"

2. worry, troubleverb

   a strong feeling of anxiety

   "his worry over the prospect of being fired"; "it is not work but worry that kills"; "he wanted to die and end his troubles"

3. worryverb

   be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy

   "I worry about my job"

4. worry, careverb

   be concerned with

   "I worry about my grades"

5. worry, vexverb

   disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress

   "I cannot sleep--my daughter's health is worrying me"

6. concern, interest, occupy, worryverb

   be on the mind of

   "I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift"

7. worryverb

   lacerate by biting

   "the dog worried his bone"

8. worryverb

   touch or rub constantly

   "The old man worried his beads"

Wiktionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. worrynoun

   A strong feeling of anxiety.

   I'm afflicted by worry throughout the night.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

2. worrynoun

   An instance or cause of such a feeling.

   My main worry is that I'll miss the train.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

3. worryverb

   To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.

   Your dog's been worrying sheep again.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

4. worryverb

   To harass; to irritate or distress.

   The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

5. worryverb

   Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.

   Your tone of voice worries me.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

6. worryverb

   To be troubled, to give way to mental anxiety.

   Stop worrying about your test, it'll be fine.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

7. worryverb

   To strangle.

   Etymology: wyrġan. Cognate with German würgen ‘strangle’.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Worryverb

   to harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth

   Etymology: [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. wrgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

2. Worryverb

   to harass or beset with importunity, or with care an anxiety; to vex; to annoy; to torment; to tease; to fret; to trouble; to plague

   Etymology: [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. wrgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

3. Worryverb

   to harass with labor; to fatigue

   Etymology: [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. wrgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

4. Worryverb

   to feel or express undue care and anxiety; to manifest disquietude or pain; to be fretful; to chafe; as, the child worries; the horse worries

   Etymology: [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. wrgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

5. Worrynoun

   a state of undue solicitude; a state of disturbance from care and anxiety; vexation; anxiety; fret; as, to be in a worry

   Etymology: [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. wrgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.]

Freebase(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Worry

   Worry is thoughts, images and emotions of a negative nature in which mental attempts are made to avoid anticipated potential threats. As an emotion it is experienced as anxiety or concern about a real or imagined issue, usually personal issues such as health or finances or broader ones such as environmental pollution and social or technological change. Most people experience short-lived periods of worry in their lives without incident; indeed, a moderate amount of worrying may even have positive effects, if it prompts people to take precautions or avoid risky behaviours. Excessive worry is the main component of generalized anxiety disorder.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Worry

   wur′i, v.t. to tear with the teeth: to harass: to tease: (Scot.) to choke.—v.i. to trouble one's self: to be unduly anxious: to fret:—pa.t. and pa.p. worr′ied.—n. act of worrying: trouble, perplexity, vexation.—ns. Worr′ier, one who worries himself or others; Worr′iment (coll.), anxiety.—adj. Worr′isome, causing trouble.—v. Worr′it (slang), to worry.—n. (slang) annoyance.—adj. Worr′ying, harassing.—adv. Worr′yingly.—Worry down, to swallow with a strong effort. [A.S. wyrgan, found in compound áwyrgan, to harm; cf. Dut. worgen, Ger. würgen, to choke; A.S. wearg, werg, a wolf.]

The Roycroft Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. worry

   Ironic nurse to old bedridden Dame Care. _E. g._, "I should worry"--famous saying of the Infinite Nix at twelve o'clock Saturday night of the Sixth Day as he threw down his tools and sent the Earth about its business.

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. WORRY

   A state of mind that leads some persons to fear, every time the tide goes out, that it won't come in again.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. worry

   Quotes by worry -- Explore a large variety of famous quotes made by worry on the Quotes.net website.

Matched Categories

1. • Incise
   • Mind
   • Perturb
   • Rub

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'worry' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2652

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'worry' in Written Corpus Frequency: #856

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'worry' in Nouns Frequency: #1916

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'worry' in Verbs Frequency: #335

How to pronounce worry?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say worry in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of worry in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of worry in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of worry in a Sentence

1. Researcher Joshua Goodman:

   When people ask me for the takeaway message, I tell them that it makes me pay a little extra attention to my kids as they develop their handedness, and if they turn out to be left-handed, I won't worry, but will keep an eye out for some of these other things.

2. Stephen Yurek:

   That [deadline] puts everyone in a difficult position, with manufacturers not knowing how to spend their resources and dollars, we just can’t go to our members and tell them not to worry about it.

3. Emeasoba George:

   Exorcize regrets/worries of any kind from your mind i.e. completely eraze out of your mind regrets/worries over your past life/mistakes/failures/disappointments. Because, it doesn't pay to regret/worry over and over again. Yes you heard me right, doing just that, will only cause you more harm than good. Nevertheless, that's worth adopting isn't it?

4. Miguel Angel Jimenez:

   I think I've done a lot for the tour through all these years and it's a little disappointing not being captain but I feel happy on the other hand for Northern Ireland Darren Clarke because Northern Ireland Darren Clarke will do a very good job, i will be behind you Northern Ireland Darren Clarke, don't worry. All the decisions you're going to make for Ryder Cups will be good.

5. Anne Dunsmore:

   I think prior to that and even during the French Laundry (incident), his staff reportedly was sitting there saying, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and he was thinking, ‘I need to work about it,’ i think his very obvious default is to go to political messaging rather than policy planning. And this is he started to have problems because it has created inconsistent decisions, and hypocritical decisions, and very transparently poor decisions.

Images & Illustrations of worry

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