Adjacent Words

Anxious definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ANX'IOUS, a ank'shus.
1. Greatly concerned or solicitous, respecting something future or unknown; being in painful suspense; applied to persons; as, to be anxious for the issue of a battle.
2. Full of solicitude; unquiet; applied to things; as anxious thoughts or labor.
3. Very careful; solicitous; as, anxious to please; anxious to commit no mistake.
It is followed by for or about, before the object.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: eagerly desirous; "anxious to see the new show at the museum"; "dying to hear who won" [syn: anxious, dying]
2: 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" [syn: anxious, nervous, queasy, uneasy, unquiet]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin anxius; akin to Latin angere to strangle, distress — more at anger Date: circa 1616 1. characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency ; worried <anxious parents> 2. characterized by, resulting from, or causing anxiety ; worrying <an anxious night> 3. ardently or earnestly wishing <anxious to learn more> Synonyms: see eager • anxiously adverb • anxiousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 troubled; uneasy in the mind. 2 causing or marked by anxiety (an anxious moment). 3 (foll. by for, or to + infin.) earnestly or uneasily wanting or trying (anxious to please; anxious for you to succeed). Derivatives: anxiously adv. anxiousness n. Etymology: L anxius f. angere choke

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Anxious Anx"ious ([a^][ng]k"sh[u^]s), a. [L. anxius, fr. angere to cause pain, choke; akin to Gr. 'a`gchein to choke. See Anger.] 1. 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. Accompanied with, or causing, anxiety; worrying; -- applied to things; as, anxious labor. The sweet of life, from which God hath bid dwell far off all anxious cares. --Milton. 3. Earnestly desirous; as, anxious to please. He sneers alike at those who are anxious to preserve and at those who are eager for reform. --Macaulay. Note: Anxious is followed by for, about, concerning, etc., before the object of solicitude. Syn: Solicitous; careful; uneasy; unquiet; restless; concerned; disturbed; watchful.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you are anxious to do something or anxious that something should happen, you very much want to do it or very much want it to happen. Both the Americans and the Russians are anxious to avoid conflict in South Asia... He is anxious that there should be no delay... Those anxious for reform say that the present system is too narrow. = eager, keen ADJ: v-link ADJ, ADJ to-inf, ADJ that, ADJ prep 2. If you are anxious, you are nervous or worried about something. The foreign minister admitted he was still anxious about the situation in the country... A friend of mine is a very anxious person. = nervous ADJ • anxiously They are waiting anxiously to see who will succeed him. ADV: ADV with v 3. An anxious time or situation is one during which you feel nervous and worried. The Prime Minister faces anxious hours before the votes are counted tomorrow night. = uneasy ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Solicitous, uneasy, restless, unquiet, apprehensive, greatly concerned. See careful.

Moby Thesaurus

aching, aghast, agitated, agog, alacritous, alarmed, all agog, all-overish, anguished, animated, annoyed, antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxioused up, apprehensive, ardent, athirst, avid, beset, bored, bothered, breathless, bursting to, careful, cautious, chafing, cheerless, concerned, depressed, desirous, disgusted, disquieted, distressed, disturbed, eager, edgy, embarrassed, enthusiastic, excited, fearful, foreboding, forward, fretful, fretting, frightened, full of life, grim, harassed, hasty, hopped-up, ill at ease, impatient, impetuous, importunate, in a lather, in a pucker, in a stew, in a sweat, in suspense, inconvenienced, irked, jittery, joyless, keen, keyed-up, lively, longing, misgiving, nauseated, nauseous, nervous, on edge, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, overanxious, overapprehensive, panting, perturbed, plagued, pleasureless, pressing, prey to malaise, prompt, put to it, puzzled, qualmish, qualmy, quick, quivering, raring to, ready, ready and willing, repelled, restive, restless, revolted, sad, scared, scary, sickened, solicitous, sore beset, spirited, squirming, squirmy, strained, suffering angst, suspenseful, taut, tense, terrified, thirsty, troubled, uncertain, uneasy, unfulfilled, ungratified, unhappy, unpatient, unquiet, unsatisfied, upset, urgent, vexed, vital, vivacious, vivid, wary, watchful, with bated breath, with muscles tense, worried, yearning, zealous, zestful