anxiety








noun, plural anx·i·e·ties.

  1. distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune: He felt anxiety about the possible loss of his job.
  2. earnest but tense desire; eagerness: He had a keen anxiety to succeed in his work.
  3. Psychiatry. a state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.

noun plural -ties

  1. a state of uneasiness or tension caused by apprehension of possible future misfortune, danger, etc; worry
  2. intense desire; eagerness
  3. psychol a state of intense apprehension or worry often accompanied by physical symptoms such as shaking, intense feelings in the gut, etc, common in mental illness or after a very distressing experienceSee also angst
n.

1520s, from Latin anxietatem (nominative anxietas) “anguish, anxiety, solicitude,” noun of quality from anxius (see anxious). Psychiatric use dates to 1904. Age of Anxiety is from Auden’s poem (1947). For “anxiety, distress,” Old English had angsumnes, Middle English anxumnesse.

n.

  1. A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties.
  2. A cause of anxiety.
  3. A state of intense apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation, often to a degree that normal physical and psychological functioning is disrupted.

  1. A state of apprehension and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation.♦ In psychiatry, a patient has an anxiety disorder ♦ if normal psychological functioning is disrupted or if anxiety persists without an identifiable cause.

Emotional distress, especially that brought on by fear of failure. (See also angst.)

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