worry

1 of 2

verb

wor·​ry ˈwər-ē How to pronounce worry (audio)
ˈwə-rē
worried; worrying

transitive verb

1
: to afflict with mental distress or agitation : make anxious
2
a
: to harass by tearing, biting, or snapping especially at the throat
b
: to shake or pull at with the teeth
a terrier worrying a rat
c
: to touch or disturb something repeatedly
d
: to change the position of or adjust by repeated pushing or hauling
3
a
: to assail with rough or aggressive attack or treatment : torment
b
: to subject to persistent or nagging attention or effort
4
dialectal British : choke, strangle

intransitive verb

1
: to feel or experience concern or anxiety : fret
worrying about his health
2
: to move, proceed, or progress by unceasing or difficult effort : struggle
3
dialectal British : strangle, choke
worrier
ˈwər-ē-ər How to pronounce worry (audio)
ˈwə-rē-
noun

worry

2 of 2

noun

plural worries
1
a
: mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated : anxiety
b
: an instance or occurrence of such distress or agitation
2
: a cause of worry : trouble, difficulty
Choose the Right Synonym for worry

Verb

worry, annoy, harass, harry, plague, pester, tease mean to disturb or irritate by persistent acts.

worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation.

pursued a policy of worrying the enemy

annoy implies disturbing one's composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks.

you're doing that just to annoy me

harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one's nervous or mental power.

harassed on all sides by creditors

harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment.

the strikers had been harried by thugs

plague implies a painful and persistent affliction.

plagued all her life by poverty

pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks.

constantly pestered with trivial complaints

tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath.

children teased the dog

Noun

care, concern, solicitude, anxiety, worry mean a troubled or engrossed state of mind or the thing that causes this.

care implies oppression of the mind weighed down by responsibility or disquieted by apprehension.

a face worn by years of care

concern implies a troubled state of mind because of personal interest, relation, or affection.

crimes caused concern in the neighborhood

solicitude implies great concern and connotes either thoughtful or hovering attentiveness toward another.

acted with typical maternal solicitude

anxiety stresses anguished uncertainty or fear of misfortune or failure.

plagued by anxiety and self-doubt

worry suggests fretting over matters that may or may not be real cause for anxiety.

financial worries

Examples of worry in a Sentence

Verb We didn't want you to worry. Don't worry. You'll be fine. Don't make your parents worry. When they didn't call after two hours, we began to worry. They were fine. We needn't have worried. His poor health worries me. It doesn't seem to worry him that rain is in the forecast. We didn't tell you about the accident because we didn't want to worry you. Noun She finally ended months of worry over her credit card debt when she finished paying off her bill. His high blood pressure is cause for worry. Our greatest worry is that she'll get lost. His only worry right now is getting to the airport on time. His mother's health is a constant worry.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Don't worry though, Sampson reassures us the other manuscripts are fun as well. Sari Hitchins, Parents, 15 Mar. 2024 Still, particular beauty standards worry Scoggins as a father. Celeste Polanco, Essence, 15 Mar. 2024 Reddit’s new policy, mods worried, could lay that ecosystem to waste. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024 Time to stop worrying about Colorado State’s NCAA Tournament hopes. Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 14 Mar. 2024 More than 20 years after the ban took effect, some worry Oklahoma is starting to waver. CBS News, 14 Mar. 2024 For many years, religious Zionist families were hesitant for their sons to fulfill Israel’s mandatory three-year army service, worried that exposure to secular peers would erode their faith. Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Unexplained lumps or lumps with symptoms like fever and weight loss or that feel progressively painful are a few reasons to be worried about an armpit lump.1 What does a cancerous lymph node in your armpit feel like? Dr. Roshini Raj, Health, 3 Mar. 2024 Ask Sahaj: My fiancé is worried my hometown isn’t good enough for our wedding Amy’s column appears seven days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024
Noun
The district’s Latino voting population, which is a minority group protected under the act and mainly concentrated in North Sunnyvale, has not had a trustee elected from their area, which the district worries could lead to a lawsuit. Stephanie Lam, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024 There is growing worry that the rise in worklessness isn’t an economic phenomenon, but one revolving around deteriorating mental health among young people. Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 14 Mar. 2024 The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering - which ByteDance would likely be subject to – and other far-reaching ways the country’s authoritarian government exercises control. Haleluya Hadero, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024 Among voters, Democrats are more upbeat about the economy Inflation has been a major worry for many Americans, but a growing number have recently begun to feel more positive about the economy according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College. Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2024 Now with these new AI detectors, schools can scan all of their students every day without a worry that screening will slow down the start of the school day. Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Mar. 2024 Those tougher provisions are proving problematic for the Biden administration, whose concerns about the law include worries that its provisions requiring access for third-party app stores could increase cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Eva Dou, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024 Here is a closer look at the four challenges: Biden is navigating continued worries over his age. Reid J. Epstein, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024 But the economy is now booming—the stock market is setting records, inflation worries are abating. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'worry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English worien, from Old English wyrgan; akin to Old High German wurgen to strangle, Lithuanian veržti to constrict

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 4

Noun

1804, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of worry was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near worry

Cite this Entry

“Worry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worry. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

worry

1 of 2 verb
wor·​ry ˈwər-ē How to pronounce worry (audio)
ˈwə-rē
worried; worrying
1
: to shake and tear or mangle with the teeth
a puppy worrying an old shoe
2
: to make anxious or upset
his absence worried his friends
3
: to feel or express great concern : fret
worrying about her health
worrier noun

worry

2 of 2 noun
plural worries
1
2
: a cause of anxiety : trouble

More from Merriam-Webster on worry

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