anxiety - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Borrowed from Latin anxietās, from anxius (“anxious, solicitous, distressed, troubled”), from angō (“to distress, trouble”), akin to Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ánkhō, “to choke”). Equivalent to anxious +‎ -ety. See anger; angst.

anxiety (countable and uncountable, plural anxieties)

  1. An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event.
    generalized anxiety disorder
    feel anxiety
    cause anxiety
    She felt a wave of anxiety before the interview.
    He suffers from social anxiety.
    • 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 4, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
      The inquest on keeper Davidson was duly held, and at the commencement seemed likely to cause Tony Palliser less anxiety than he had expected.
    • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 268a:
      But the other, because he's been immersed in arguments, gives the appearance of harbouring considerable anxiety and suspicion that he's ignorant of those matters he presents himself to others as an expert on.
  2. An uneasy or distressing desire (for something). Endeavor (to please).
  3. (pathology) A state of restlessness and agitation, often accompanied by a distressing sense of oppression or tightness in the stomach.
  4. (informal) Any anxiety disorder, especially generalized anxiety disorder.
    • 2022 May 25, Mara Wilson, “‘Anxiety is part of me’: Mara Wilson and other anxious minds on how they cope”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      My anxiety is a part of me, one that I’ve had to learn to deal with.

state of uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession

concern

uneasy or distressing desire

pathological condition

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