worried

1. 1
   anxiousadjective

   Feeling anxious or unhappy because of thinking about bad things that have happened or might happen.

   Like a low hum running under your thoughts that you can't quite switch off.

   Investors grew worried as the market kept falling.

   Her parents grew worried when she still wasn't home by midnight and started calling her friends.

   UsageUsually worried about something or worried that + a clause. A person is worried; the thing causing it is worrying.

   Similaranxious, concerned, nervous, uneasy, troubled

   Oppositecalm, relaxed, unconcerned, carefree

   Note

   This adjective grew out of the past participle of worry and now behaves like any other adjective of feeling. It can also describe a look, a face or a mood, not only the person who feels it: a worried hush, a worried frown.

2. 2
   past tenseverb

   Simple past and past participle of worry.

   He had worried himself sick by the time the news arrived.

   The whole town worried about the rising river.

   UsageWorks both ways: people worried about the river, and the news worried her.

   Note

   The transitive side keeps older, physical uses (a dog worried the sheep, he worried a loose button) and one obsolete Scots sense, to strangle. In the passive, she was worried by the news shades into the adjective of anxious feeling; once very can go in front, the adjective has taken over.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2