Definitions for worry
ˈwɜr i, ˈwʌr iwor·ry

Princeton's WordNet(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. concern, worry, headache, vexation(noun)

   something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness

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

2. worry, trouble(verb)

   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. worry(verb)

   be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy

   "I worry about my job"

4. worry, care(verb)

   be concerned with

   "I worry about my grades"

5. worry, vex(verb)

   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, worry(verb)

   be on the mind of

   "I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift"

7. worry(verb)

   lacerate by biting

   "the dog worried his bone"

8. worry(verb)

   touch or rub constantly

   "The old man worried his beads"

Wiktionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. worry(Noun)

   A strong feeling of anxiety.

   I'm afflicted by worry throughout the night.

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

2. worry(Noun)

   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. worry(Verb)

   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. worry(Verb)

   To harass; to irritate or distress.

   The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.

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

5. worry(Verb)

   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. worry(Verb)

   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. worry(Verb)

   To strangle.

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

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

1. Worry(verb)

   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. Worry(verb)

   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. Worry(verb)

   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. Worry(verb)

   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. Worry(noun)

   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.

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. Susan Clayton:

   People worry about climate change, we expect there will be impacts of this worry but don't yet know what they will be.

2. Steel Lafferty:

   I wasn't too worried, i wakeboard professionally so I'm always in the water and I've kind of been around gators my whole life. There was a bit of a worry, but it seemed like he was doing his own thing so I let him go.

3. John McCain:

   I worry when they arrest people for no good reason, when they have 40,000 or so people in prison and there's clearly been an abridgement of various freedoms, such as the press and others.

4. Susan Swearer:

   They worry that it's not going to...( change) anything, and then they worry,' Is there going to be retaliation ?' And so they just don't really have the confidence that the school is going to handle it.

5. Democratic FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub:

   What I worry about is the inherently coercive nature of these workplace situations, let's say an employer decides to throw corporate resources behind a candidate and sets up a phone bank, asking employees to get on the phone to get people to support candidate Jones. It's very hard to say no to your employer. It puts the employee, especially the low-level employee, in a very difficult position.

Images & Illustrations of worry

Popularity rank by frequency of use