worrying

adjective

wor·​ry·​ing ˈwər-ē-iŋ 

ˈwə-rē-

: causing worry : creating reason for worry : troubling

a worrying trend/development

a worrying question

The presence of the knife on the stage of the murder was a worrying circumstance for Wilson.

—Mark Twain

worryingly adverb

When the secretary returned, she handed us an envelope that looked worryingly official …

—Caroline Alexander

… money held by households has risen at a worryingly slow rate over the past year …

—The Economist

Examples of worrying in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Too much could go wrong, and that alone is maybe the largest worrying sign. —Erik Sherman, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025

The series of missile strikes that India launched in Pakistan Wednesday is a worrying sign of military boldness that could dramatically up the stakes in the long-simmering tensions between nuclear-armed rivals. —Fahad Shah, Christian Science Monitor, 7 May 2025

But there are some key differences that make today a bit more worrying. —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 30 Apr. 2025

Think about the time, effort and expense invested in transformation, that’s a pretty worrying statistic. —Megan Poinski, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for worrying

• currying
• hurrying
• scurrying