ANXIETY.
Synonyms:
| anguish, | disquiet, | foreboding, | perplexity, |
| apprehension, | disturbance, | fretfulness, | solicitude, |
| care, | dread, | fretting, | trouble, |
| concern, | fear, | misgiving, | worry. |
Anxiety is, according to its derivation, a choking disquiet, akin to anguish; anxiety is mental; anguish may be mental or physical; anguish is in regard to the known, anxiety in regard to the unknown; anguish is because of what has happened, anxiety because of what may happen. Anxiety refers to some future event, always suggesting hopeful possibility, and thus differing from apprehension, fear, dread, foreboding, terror, all of which may be quite despairing. In matters within our reach, anxiety always stirs the question whether something can not be done, and is thus a valuable spur to doing; in this respect it is allied to care. Foreboding, dread, etc., commonly incapacitate for all helpful thought or endeavor. Worry is a more petty, restless, and manifest anxiety; anxiety may be quiet and silent; worry is communicated to all around. Solicitude is a milder anxiety. Fretting or fretfulness is a weak complaining without thought of accomplishing or changing anything, but merely as a relief to one's own disquiet. Perplexity often involves anxiety, but may be quite free from it.[50] A student may be perplexed regarding a translation, yet, if he has time enough, not at all anxious regarding it.
Antonyms:
| apathy, | calmness, | confidence, | light-heartedness, | satisfaction, |
| assurance, | carelessness, | ease, | nonchalance, | tranquillity. |
Prepositions:
Anxiety for a friend's return; anxiety about, in regard to, or concerning the future.