The Collaborative Dictionary

Worry \Wor"ry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Worried; p. pr. & vb. n. Worrying.] [OE. worowen, wirien, to strangle, AS. wyrgan in [=a]wyrgan; akin to D. worgen, wurgen, to strangle, OHG. wurgen, G. w["u]rgen, Lith. verszti, and perhaps to E. wring.] [1913 Webster]

To harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth. [1913 Webster] A hellhound that doth hunt us all to death; That dog that had his teeth before his eyes, To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

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. "A church worried with reformation." --South. [1913 Webster] Let them rail, And worry one another at their pleasure. --Rowe. [1913 Webster] Worry him out till he gives consent. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

To harass with labor; to fatigue. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

Word Net

worry

1 something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness; "New York traffic is a constant concern"; "it's a major worry" [syn: concern, headache, vexation]

2 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" [syn: trouble]

1 be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy; "I worry about my job"

2 be concerned with; "I worry about my grades" [syn: care]

3 disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress; "I cannot sleep--my daughter's health is worrying me" [syn: vex] [ant: reassure]

4 be on the mind of; "I worry about the second Germanic consonant" [syn: concern, interest, occupy]

5 lacerate by biting; "the dog worried his bone"

6 touch or rub constantly; "The old man worried his beads" [also: worried]

worried adj : afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief; "too upset to say anything"; "spent many disquieted moments"; "distressed about her son's leaving home"; "lapsed into disturbed sleep"; "worried parents"; "a worried frown"; "one last worried check of the sleeping children" [syn: disquieted, distressed, disturbed, upset]

worried See worry

Moby Thesaurus

annoyed, anxious, badgered, baited, bedeviled, beset, bothered, bugged, bullyragged, chivied, deviled, distracted, distrait, distressed, dogged, embarrassed, fretted, harassed, harried, haunted, heckled, hectored, hounded, inconvenienced, irked, needled, nipped at, persecuted, perturbed, pestered, picked on, plagued, put to it, puzzled, ragged, sore beset, teased, tormented, troubled, vexed, worried sick, worried stiff

English

Pronunciation

Adjective

1. Thinking about unpleasant things that have happened or that might happen; feeling afraid and unhappy.

Derived terms

• unworried

Translations

Verb

worried

1. past of worry

Derived terms

• worriedly
• worriedness

A well accepted theory of anxiety originally posited by Liebert and Morris in 1967 suggests that anxiety consists of two components; worry and emotionality. Emotionality refers to physiological symptoms such as sweating, increased heart beat and raised blood pressure.

Worry refers to negative self-talk that often distracts the mind from focusing on the problem at hand. For example, when students become anxious during a test, they may repeatedly tell themselves they are going to fail, or they can't remember the material or that their teacher will become angry with them. This thinking interferes with focusing on the test as the speech areas of the brain that are needed to complete test questions are being used for worrying.

Worry can also refer to a feeling of concern about someone else's condition. For instance, a mother may say "I'm worried" if her child doesn't show up at home when he was supposed to be there. It can also refer to certain actions or the lack of those kind of actions. "I'm worried because she is not eating any vegetables".

See also

wikiquote worry

• Anxiety
• Neuroticism