Anxious

How to spell anxious

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce anxious

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does anxious mean?

1. adjectiveFeeling worried, nervous, or uneasy about something uncertain.
2. adjectiveKeenly wanting something to happen or to do something.

Anxious in a sentence

• She felt anxious while waiting for the test results.

• The new staff were anxious to make a good impression.

• He grew anxious as the deadline drew closer.

• She was anxious to begin her first day at the firm.

Where does anxious come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin anxius, meaning 'troubled in mind' or 'uneasy', which was built on the verb angere, meaning 'to choke, squeeze, or cause distress'. The underlying image is a tight, constricting feeling, the sense of a throat closing under pressure, and that same root gives English the closely related words 'anguish' and 'angina', as well as being a cousin of 'anger'. Latin anxius passed into English in the early 1600s, at first describing a state of mental distress and worry. Over time it also picked up a softer, everyday sense of being keenly eager for something to happen. The spelling preserves the awkward Latin cluster, so the trap is the silent-feeling 'x' working with '-ious' rather than the more expected '-shus' that the ear suggests.

How the word is built

• anx- (from Latin anxius/angere: to choke, distress)
• -ious (adjective suffix)