Definition of: anxiety

(ang·zī′ə·tē) noun plural ·ties
1. Disturbance of mind regarding some uncertain event; misgiving; worry.
2. Strained or solicitous desire, as for some object or purpose; eagerness. [<L anxietas, -tatis <anxius. See ANXIOUS.] Synonyms: anguish, apprehension, care, concern, disquiet, disturbance, dread, fear, foreboding, fretfulness, fretting, misgiving, perplexity, solicitude, trouble, worry. Anxiety refers to some future event, always suggesting hopeful possibility, and thus differing from apprehension, fear, dread, foreboding, terror, all of which may be quite despairing. Worry is a more petty, restless, and manifest anxiety; anxiety may be quiet and silent; worry is communicated to all around. Solicitude is a milder anxiety. Fretting or fretfulness is a weak complaining without thought of accomplishing or changing anything, but merely as a relief to one's own disquiet. Perplexity often involves anxiety, but may be quite free from it. One feels anxiety for a friend's return; anxiety about, for, in regard to, or concerning the future. Antonyms: apathy, assurance, calmness, carelessness, confidence, ease, lightheartedness, nonchalance, satisfaction, tranquillity.