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

The experts acknowledge a worrying side to tracking macros. —Ranyechi Udemezue, Vogue, 17 Feb. 2026

No more worrying about running out of battery life. —Tory Johnson, ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026

Gomez made his comeback off the bench at the Stadium of Light after the worrying sight of Wataru Endo being carried off on a stretcher midway through the second half. —James Pearce, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026

Plenty of showings around town were sold out, but few generated feverish headlines about bidding wars during the festival’s run—a worrying development for the filmmakers who come to Sundance in hopes of finding a distributor for their work. —Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for worrying

• currying
• hurrying
• scurrying