anxiety

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A feeling of worry or unease about something that might happen.

   She felt a wave of anxiety before her job interview.

2. 2
   noun

   A medical condition in which a person feels constant worry and nervousness.

   He takes medication to help manage his anxiety.

3. 3
   noun

   A strong, uneasy desire for something.

   In her anxiety to please everyone, she forgot her own needs.

Borrowed from Latin anxietās, from anxius (“anxious, solicitous, distressed, troubled”), from angō (“to distress, trouble”), akin to Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ánkhō, “to choke”). Equivalent to anxious + -ety. See anger; angst.

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