worry

English

Etymology

From Middle English werien, worien, wirwen ‘to choke, strangle’, from Old English wyrġan, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną (compare Dutch worgen, wurgen, German würgen), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- ‘bind, squeeze’ (compare Latin urgere ‘to press, push’, Lithuanian ver̃žti ‘to string; squeeze’, Russian (poetic) отверзать (otverzát’) ‘to open’, literally ‘untie’). Related to wring.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwʌɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwʌɹi/, /ˈwɝi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (accents without the "Hurry-furry" merger)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (accents with the "Hurry-furry" merger)
• Rhymes: -ʌri

Verb

worry (third-person singular simple present worries, present participle worrying, simple past and past participle worried)

1. (transitive) To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf.

   Your dog’s been worrying sheep again.

2. (transitive) To harass; to irritate or distress.

   The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.

3. (transitive) Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.

   Your tone of voice worries me.

4. (intransitive) To be troubled, to give way to mental anxiety.

   Stop worrying about your test, it’ll be fine.

5. (transitive, obsolete, except in Scots) To strangle.
6. (transitive) To cause concern or anxiety.
   • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, The Economist, volume 408, number 8848: 

     That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition.

Translations

seize or shake by the throat

• French: harceler (fr)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: давити, гушити

  Roman: daviti, gušiti

• Swedish: sätta tänderna i

harass, irritate

• Esperanto: ĉagreni (eo)
• Finnish: ärsyttää (fi)
• French: harceler (fr)

• Japanese: じらす (jirasu)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir dragh air
• Swedish: hetsa, ansätta (sv), trakassera (sv)

disturb the peace of mind of

• Catalan: preocupar (ca), amoinar
• Czech: znepokojovat
• Esperanto: ĉagreni (eo)
• Finnish: huolestuttaa, tehdä (fi) huolestuneeksi (fi)
• French: inquiéter (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: besorgen (de)
• Hebrew: הדאיג (hid'íg)
• Italian: disturbare (it)
• Japanese: 心配する (ja) (しんぱいする, shinpai-suru)
• Jèrriais: ouothinner
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ترساندن (ku)

• Malay:

  Rumi: risau, bimbang, runsing

  Jawi: ريساو, بيمبڠ, رونسيڠ

• Navajo: tʼáadoo leʼé iʼdiiłʼá
• Norwegian: uroe
• Portuguese: preocupar (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir dragh air
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бринути

  Roman: brinuti

• Spanish: inquietar (es), preocupar (es)
• Swedish: oroa (sv)
• Turkish: kaygılandırmak, korkutmak (tr), endişelendirmek

be troubled

• Arabic: قلق (qaliqa)
• Burmese: ပူ (my) (pu)
• Catalan: preocupar-se, amoinar-se
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 著急, 着急 (zh) (zháojí), 擔心, 担心 (zh) (dānxīn)

• Czech: dělat si starosti
• Dutch: bezorgd (nl) zijn, zich zorgen (nl) maken
• Esperanto: zorgi (eo), ĉagreniĝi
• Ewe: tsi dzi
• Finnish: huolehtia (fi), huolia (fi)
• French: s'inquiéter (fr)
• German: besorgt sein (de), sich Sorgen machen (dir is in the dative case, e.g. "mach dir keine Sorgen")
• Greek: ανησυχώ (el) (anisychó)

  Ancient: μεριμνάω (merimnaō)

• Hebrew: דאג (da'ág)
• Hungarian: aggódik (hu)
• Italian: preoccuparsi (it)

• Japanese: 心配する (ja) (しんぱいする, shinpai-suru), 気にする (ja) (きにする, ki ni suru)
• Korean: 걱정하다 (ko) (geokjeong-hada)
• Latin: sollicitor
• Navajo: yínííł naʼadá
• Old Church Slavonic: пєшти сѧ (pešti sę)
• Portuguese: preocupar-se
• Russian: беспокоиться (ru) (bespokóitʹsja), волноваться (ru) (volnovátʹsja), переживать (ru) (pereživátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бринути

  Roman: brinuti

• Spanish: inquietarse, preocuparse (es), estar preocupado
• Swahili: dukuduku (sw)
• Swedish: oroa sig
• Telugu: చింతించు (te) (chimtimchu)
• Thai: ทุกข์ร้อน (tóok rón)
• Vietnamese: lo (vi), lo lắng (vi), lo ngại (vi)

strangle — see strangle

Noun

worry (plural worries)

1. A strong feeling of anxiety.

   I'm afflicted by worry throughout the night.

2. An instance or cause of such a feeling.

   My main worry is that I'll miss the train.

Derived terms

• worried
• worrisome

Translations

strong feeling of anxiety

• Catalan: preocupació (ca), angoixa (ca)
• Czech: starost (cs) f
• Esperanto: ĉagreno, zorgo (eo)
• Ewe: dzitsitsi
• Finnish: (1,2) huoli (fi), (1,2) harmi (fi)
• French: souci (fr) m, angoisse (fr) f

  Old French: anguise

• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Sorge (de) f
• Greek: ανησυχία (el) f (anisychía), έγνοια (el) f (égnoia), έννοια (el) f (énnoia)
• Hebrew: דאגה f (de'aga)
• Hungarian: aggodalom (hu)
• Italian: preoccupazione (it) f
• Japanese: 心配 (ja) (shinpai)
• Korean: 걱정 (ko) (geokjeong), 근심 (geunsim)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ترس (ku)

• Luxembourgish: Suerg f
• Macedonian: грижа f (gríža), гајле n (gájle)
• Polish: zmartwienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: preocupação (pt) f
• Romanian: grijă (ro) f
• Russian: беспокойство (ru) n (bespokójstvo)
• Scottish Gaelic: iomagain f
• Spanish: preocupación (es) f, zozobra (es) f
• Swedish: oro (sv) c, bekymmer (sv) n, ängslan (sv) c
• Telugu: చింత (te) (chinta), దిగులు (te) (digulu)
• Turkish: kaygı (tr), endişe (tr), tasa (tr)
• Welsh: pryder (cy)

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Scots

Verb

worry

1. (transitive) To strangle.