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) отверза́ть (otverzátʹ) ‘to open’, literally ‘untie’). Related to wring.

Pronunciation

• (UK, New Zealand, Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈwʌɹi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwʌɹi/, /ˈwɝɹi/
• (New Zealand, non-standard) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒɹi/

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

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

2. (transitive) Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress.
   • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

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

   Your tone of voice worries me.

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

   The President was worried into military action by persistent advisors.

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

   Your dog’s been worrying sheep again.

5. (transitive) To touch repeatedly, to fiddle with.
   • 1997, David Sedaris, "A Plague of Tics", Naked, page 15:

     So what if I wanted to touch my nose to the windshield? Who was it hurting? Why was it that he could repeatedly worry his change and bite his lower lip without the threat of punishment?

   • 2002, Masha Hamilton, Staircase of a Thousand Steps, page 272:

     No stories, no arguments. He just worries his prayer beads.

6. (transitive, obsolete, except in Scots) To strangle.

Synonyms

• (trouble mentally): fret

Translations

be troubled

• Arabic: قَلِقَ‎ (qaliqa)
• Armenian: անհանգստանալ (hy) (anhangstanal)
• Burmese: ပူ (my) (pu)
• Catalan: preocupar-se (ca), amoïnar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 擔心, 担心 (daam¹ sam¹)

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

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

  Ancient: μεριμνάω (merimnáō)

• Hebrew: דאג‎ (he) (da'ág)
• Hungarian: aggódik (hu)
• Irish: déan imní, imní a bheith ort
• Italian: preoccuparsi (it)
• Japanese: 心配する (shinpai suru), 気にする (ja) (ki ni suru)
• Khmer: ព្រួយ (km) (pruəy)

• Korean: 걱정하다 (ko) (geokjeonghada)
• Latin: sollicitor
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: yínííł naʼadá
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bekymre (no)

• Old Church Slavonic: пєшти сѧ (pešti sę)
• Polish: niepokoić się (pl) impf, martwić się (pl), głowić się (pl) impf, gryźć się (pl) impf
• Portuguese: preocupar-se
• Quechua: phutiy
• Russian: беспоко́иться (ru) impf (bespokóitʹsja), волнова́ться (ru) impf (volnovátʹsja), пережива́ть (ru) impf (pereživátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бринути

  Roman: brinuti (sh)

• Spanish: inquietarse (es), preocuparse (es), estar preocupado
• Swahili: dukuduku (sw)
• Swedish: oroa sig
• Tagalog: mag-alala
• Telugu: చింతించు (te) (ciṃtiṃcu)
• Thai: ทุกข์ร้อน (tóok rón)
• Vietnamese: lo (vi), lo lắng (vi), lo ngại (vi)
• Welsh: poeni (cy)
• Yiddish: זאָרגן‎ (zorgn)

disturb the peace of mind of

• Armenian: անհանգստացնել (hy) (anhangstacʿnel)
• Catalan: preocupar (ca), amoïnar (ca)
• Czech: znepokojovat
• Danish: bekymre
• Esperanto: ĉagreni (eo)
• Finnish: huolestuttaa, tehdä huolestuneeksi
• French: inquiéter (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: besorgen (de)
• Hebrew: הדאיג‎ (hid'íg)
• Irish: cuir imní ar
• Italian: disturbare (it), preoccupare (it)
• Japanese: せがむ (segamu), 困らす (komarasu)
• Khmer: អំពល់ (km) (ɑmpʊəl)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ترساندن‎ (ku)

• Malay:

  Jawi: ريساو‎, بيمبڠ‎, رونسيڠ‎

  Rumi: risau, bimbang, runsing

• Maori: pikoni
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: tʼáadoo leʼé iʼdiiłʼá
• Norman: ouothinner
• Norwegian: uroe

  Bokmål: plage (no)

• Portuguese: preocupar (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir dragh air
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бринути

  Roman: brinuti (sh)

• Spanish: inquietar (es), preocupar (es)
• Swedish: oroa (sv)
• Tagalog: mag-alala
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: kaygılandırmak, korkutmak (tr), endişelendirmek
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

harass, irritate

• Esperanto: ĉagreni (eo)
• Finnish: ärsyttää (fi)
• French: harceler (fr)
• Japanese: じらす (jirasu), 悩ます (ja) (nayamasu)

• Latvian: nelikt mieru, tirdīt
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir dragh air
• Swedish: hetsa (sv), ansätta (sv), trakassera (sv)

seize or shake by the throat

• French: harceler (fr)
• Japanese: 噛んで (ja)振り回す (kande furimawasu)
• Latvian: plosīt
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: давити, гушити

  Roman: daviti (sh), gušiti (sh)

• Swedish: sätta tänderna i

strangle — see strangle

Noun

worry (countable and uncountable, 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

• Arabic: قَلَق‎ m (qalaq)
• Armenian: անհանգստություն (hy) (anhangstutʿyun)
• Aromanian: cãshtigã f
• Catalan: preocupació (ca), angoixa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 擔心 (zh), 担心 (zh) (dānxīn)

• Czech: starost (cs) f
• Danish: bekymring c
• Esperanto: ĉagreno (eo), 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)
• Irish: imní f

• Italian: preoccupazione (it) f
• Japanese: 心配 (ja) (shinpai)
• Korean: 걱정 (ko) (geokjeong), 근심 (geunsim)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ترس‎ (ku)

• Luxembourgish: Suerg f
• Macedonian: гри́жа f (gríža), га́јле n (gájle)
• Polish: zmartwienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: preocupação (pt) f
• Romanian: grijă (ro) f
• Russian: беспоко́йство (ru) n (bespokójstvo), забо́та (ru) f (zabóta), трево́га (ru) f (trevóga), волне́ние (ru) n (volnénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: iomagain f
• Spanish: preocupación (es) f, zozobra (es) f
• Swedish: oro (sv) c, bekymmer (sv) n, ängslan (sv) c
• Telugu: చింత (te) (ciṃta), దిగులు (te) (digulu)
• Turkish: kaygı (tr), endişe (tr), tasa (tr)
• Welsh: pryder (cy)
• Yiddish: זאָרג‎ f (zorg)

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Scots

Verb

worry

1. (transitive) To strangle.