WORRY
What does "WORRY" mean?
To feel troubled or anxious about actual or potential problems.
Meanings
- To feel or cause to feel anxious or uneasy about something. Don't worry about the exam; you've prepared for weeks.
- A state of anxiety, or a cause of such anxiety. Money was a constant worry that year.
- To seize and shake or tear at something with the teeth, as a dog does. The terrier would worry an old slipper for hours.
Did you know?
- WORRY once meant to strangle by the throat: from there it slid to 'harass relentlessly' (as a dog worries prey) and only in the 1800s settled into today's quiet, internal sense of anxiety.
Word origin
From Old English 'wyrgan' (to strangle, throttle); the original sense was to seize by the throat, which softened over centuries to 'harass', then to the modern 'feel anxious'.
Remember it
WORRY doubles its R like a heartbeat that won't slow down.
A little poem
It gripped at the throat-
now it only grips the mind,
same teeth, softer bite.
haiku
Wordplay
- My dog worries the mailman and I worry about the mailman - same word, very different teeth.
What it teaches
Worry is a dog that worries an old shoe: much movement, much noise, and nothing nourishing gained.
Quick facts
What does WORRY mean?
To feel troubled or anxious about actual or potential problems.
Is WORRY a valid word?
Yes — WORRY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is WORRY?
WORRY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does WORRY come from?
From Old English 'wyrgan' (to strangle, throttle); the original sense was to seize by the throat, which softened over centuries to 'harass', then to the modern 'feel anxious'.
What can WORRY teach us?
Worry is a dog that worries an old shoe: much movement, much noise, and nothing nourishing gained.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.