worry

Meanings

Verb

• To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt.
• Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.
• To harass; to irritate or distress.
• To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.
• To touch repeatedly, to fiddle with.
• To strangle.

Noun

• A strong feeling of anxiety.
• An instance or cause of such a feeling.
• A person who causes worry.

Related

Similar words

• fret

Origin

• From Middle English worien, werien, wirien, wirwen, wyryȝen, from Old English wyrġan, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ-. Cognate with Dutch worgen, wurgen, German würgen. Compare Latin urgeo, Sanskrit वृहति ("to tear out, pluck"), Lithuanian ver̃žti, Russian (poetic) отверза́ть. Related to wring.