anxious

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæŋkʃəs/ (UK); /ˈæŋkʃəs/, /ˈeɪŋkʃəs/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin anxius (“uneasy, troubled in mind”),^[2][3][4] from angere (“to choke, squeeze; to torment”) (see anger, anguish),^[3][2][4] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *angh- (“tight, painfully constricted”).^[3][5] Barnhart notes that French anxieux existed from 1375 but that Latin is the more probable source.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Troubled or uneasy about an uncertain event: about 1616 in MWU, 1623 in Barnhart and the OED.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The same image is in Serbo-Croatian tjeskoba, anxiety, literally tightness.^[3] Causing trouble or worry, as in an anxious time, is from 1667.^[7] The meaning earnestly desirous, as in anxious to please, is from 1742.^[3][7] The anxious bench or seat, at American revival meetings, is from 1839.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1616 – troubled.^[6]
• 1623 – in Barnhart.^[2]
• 1667 – causing anxiety.^[7]
• 1742 – eager.^[3]
• 1839 – the anxious bench.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Worried and uneasy about an uncertain outcome.
2. Showing or causing anxiety: an anxious night.
3. Eagerly or earnestly wanting: anxious for promotion.

Word family

• anxiously
• anxiousness
• unanxious
• overanxious

Related words

• anxiety
• anger
• anguish
• angst

Usage notes

The AHD notes that anxious has long been used to mean eager, but that many prefer to keep it for cases where the subject is worried or uneasy; 52 percent of its Usage Panel rejected anxious to see the new show.^[8] RHWU calls the sense eager fully standard, dating it to the mid-18th century.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House