worry
pronunciation
How to pronounce worry in British English:
UK [ˈwʌri]
How to pronounce worry in American English:
US [ˈwɜːri]
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- Noun:
- something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness
- a strong feeling of anxiety
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- Verb:
- be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy
- be concerned with
- disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress
- be on the mind of
- lacerate by biting
- touch or rub constantly
Word Origin
- worry
- worry: [OE] Worry originally meant ‘strangle’. It comes from a prehistoric West Germanic *wurgjan, which also produced German wügen ‘choke, strangle’. The sense ‘harass physically’ (as in ‘dogs worrying sheep’) emerged in the 16th century, via an intermediate ‘seize by the throat’, and the modern sense ‘vex, disturb’ came on the scene in the 17th century, but the verb was not used intransitively until the mid- 19th century.
- worry (v.)
- Old English wyrgan "to strangle," from Proto-Germanic *wurgjan (cognates: Middle Dutch worghen, Dutch worgen, Old High German wurgen, German würgen "to strangle," Old Norse virgill "rope"), from PIE *wergh- "to turn" (see wring). Related: Worried; worrier; worrying. The oldest sense was obsolete in English after c. 1600; meaning "annoy, bother, vex," first recorded 1670s, developed from that of "harass by rough or severe treatment" (1550s), as of dogs or wolves attacking sheep. Meaning "to cause mental distress or trouble" is attested from 1822; intransitive sense of "to feel anxiety or mental trouble" is first recorded 1860.
- worry (n.)
- "anxiety arising from cares and troubles," 1804, from worry (v.).
Example
- 1. Yet I am starting to worry .
- 2. Employers worry most about skilled workers .
- 3. That is not his only water worry .
- 4. I didn 't want to worry about their opinions .
- 5. You can either worry or worship .