anxious (adj.)

1620s, "greatly troubled by uncertainties," from Latin anxius "solicitous, uneasy, troubled in mind" (also "causing anxiety, troublesome"), from angere, anguere "to choke, squeeze," figuratively "to torment, cause distress" (from PIE root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, painful").

The same image is in Serbo-Croatian tjeskoba "anxiety," literally "tightness, narrowness." The meaning "earnestly desirous" (as in anxious to please) is from 1742. Related: Anxiously; anxiousness.

also from 1620s

Entries linking to anxious

anxiety (n.)

1520s, "apprehension caused by danger, misfortune, or error, uneasiness of mind respecting some uncertainty, a restless dread of some evil," from Latin anxietatem (nominative anxietas) "anguish, anxiety, solicitude," noun of quality from anxius "uneasy, troubled in mind" (see anxious).

It was sometimes considered a pathological condition (1660s); modern psychiatric use dates to 1904. Age of Anxiety is from Auden's poem (1947). For "anxiety, distress," Old English had angsumnes, Middle English anxumnesse.

overanxious (adj.)

also over-anxious, "anxious to excess, unduly anxious," 1713, from over- + anxious. Related: Overanxiously; overanxiousness.

*angh-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "tight, painfully constricted, painful."

It forms all or part of: agnail; anger; angina; angry; angst; anguish; anxious; hangnail; quinsy.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit amhu- "narrow," amhah "anguish;" Armenian anjuk "narrow;" Lithuanian ankštas "narrow;" Greek ankhein "to squeeze," ankhone "a strangling;" Latin angere "to throttle, torment;" Old Irish cum-ang "straitness, want;" Old English enge "narrow, painful," Old Norse angra "to grieve, vex, distress," Gothic aggwus "narrow."

Trends of anxious

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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nervous

late 14c., "containing nerves; affecting the sinews" (the latter sense now obsolete); from Latin nervosus "sinewy, vigorous," from nervus "sinew, nerve" (see nerve (n.)). The meaning "of or belonging to the nerves" in the modern anatomical sense is from 1660s. From 1630s it was u

queasy

mid-15c., kyse, coysy, of food, "unsettling to the stomach, apt to cause nausea;" by 1540s of persons or the stomach, "affected with nausea, inclined to vomit;" a word of uncertain origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse kveisa "a boil" (Middle English Comp

religiosity

religiositas "religiousness," from religiosus "pious, devout, reverencing or fearing the gods," also "religiously careful, anxious...

vigilante

American English, from Spanish vigilante, literally "watchman," from Latin vigilantem (nominative vigilans) "watchful, anxious...

care

Old English carian, cearian "be anxious or solicitous; grieve; feel concern or interest," from Proto-Germanic *karo- "lament...Old Saxon karon "to lament, to care, to sorrow, complain," Old High German charon "complain, lament," Gothic karon "be anxious...

careful

Old English cearful "mournful, sad," also "full of care or woe; anxious; full of concern" (for someone or something), thus...

busy

Old English bisig "careful, anxious," later "continually employed or occupied, in constant or energetic action" cognate with...

dingy

1736, in Kentish dialect, "dirty, foul," a word of uncertain origin, but perhaps related to dung. Meaning "soiled, tarnished, having a dull, brownish color" (from grime or weathering) is by 1751; hence "shabby, shady, drab" (by 1855). The noun dinge "dinginess" (1816) is a back-f

please

c. 1300, plesen, "to please or satisfy (a deity), propitiate, appease," from Old French plaisir "to please, give pleasure to, satisfy" (11c., Modern French plaire, the form of which is perhaps due to analogy of faire), from Latin placere "to be acceptable, be liked, be approved,"

fanny

"buttocks," 1920, American English, from earlier British meaning "vulva" (1879), perhaps from the name of John Cleland's heroine in the scandalous novel "Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" (1748). The fem. proper name is a diminutive of Frances. The genital sense is st

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updated on September 23, 2022

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Dictionary entries near anxious

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any

anybody

anyhow

anymore

anyone