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Synonym Chooser

How is the word anxious distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of anxious are athirst, avid, eager, and keen. While all these words mean "moved by a strong and urgent desire or interest," anxious emphasizes fear of frustration or failure or disappointment.

anxious not to make a social blunder

When would athirst be a good substitute for anxious?

Although the words athirst and anxious have much in common, athirst stresses yearning but not necessarily readiness for action.

athirst for adventure

How do avid and eager relate to one another, in the sense of anxious?

Avid adds to eager the implication of insatiability or greed.

avid for new thrills

When is eager a more appropriate choice than anxious?

The synonyms eager and anxious are sometimes interchangeable, but eager implies ardor and enthusiasm and sometimes impatience at delay or restraint.

eager to get started

Where would keen be a reasonable alternative to anxious?

While the synonyms keen and anxious are close in meaning, keen suggests intensity of interest and quick responsiveness in action.

keen on the latest fashions

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of anxious As we are told by the official logline for the episode (which airs on ABC at 10/9c), Caterina Scorsone’s on-screen counterpart undertakes an extremely risky procedure on a young patient — whose anxious mother is played by Yellowstone alum Piper Perabo. Charlie Mason, TVLine, 27 Apr. 2025 Martin said her son became extremely anxious, pulling threads out of his clothes and peeling paint off walls. Sudhin Thanawala and Lindsay Whitehurst, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2025 The merger process has rattled CBS News, as Redstone, Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder, is said to be anxious to close the transaction. Ted Johnson, Deadline, 24 Apr. 2025 How to know when your dog is agitated Identifying an anxious or aggressive dog can be tricky, as negative and positive emotional indicators can often be confused. Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for anxious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anxious
Adjective
  • Others are worried about the fate of the Smithsonian more broadly.
    Deborah Barfield Berry, USA Today, 20 Apr. 2025
  • An overwhelming 92 percent are worried about a potential recession in 2025.
    Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Consumer sentiment and expectations Americans are feeling uneasy about the economy, and that is showing up in the data.
    Russ Wiles, USA Today, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Markets have been turbulent ever since as trade policy uncertainty leaves investors uneasy.
    Chris DiLella, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • His new kick-change has been a nice weapon against lefties and Taillon is excited about the pitch.
    Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Kolache fans headed to Florida's Gulf Coast shouldn't get too excited yet, though.
    Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • At times brutal and always volatile, the album functions as a sort of electro-shock therapy applied from the shoulders down, layering hard beats, ambient whorls, and nervous acid ticks to trigger a state of full-body rapture.
    Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 18 Apr. 2025
  • At the same time, sellers might get nervous if deal activity slows down.
    James Nelson, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • In cases where advertising is inevitable, some prefer ads that appeal on a personal level over messaging that can be inappropriate or, even, disturbing and offensive.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 16 Apr. 2025
  • Ghosts that wink could be scary but the face Sal makes is disturbing in other ways.
    Keith Phipps, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • But Hilton could be eager for a showdown with Harris.
    Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2025
  • The market is eager for trade deals that can help remove some of the worst-case scenarios before the tariffs inflict serious damage on the economy.
    Jeff Marks, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Gannon informed Nolen that Johnson was a little upset with falling into the second round.
    Doug Haller, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025
  • In medical settings, it's used to treat poisoning, overdoses, high cholesterol, hangovers, and upset stomach.
    Ashley Wong, Health, 26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • They are characterized by tense exchanges, audience ejections and, in one case, stun guns deployed to subdue two attendees.
    Averi Harper, ABC News, 29 Apr. 2025
  • At one point, he's shown punching a wooden door, and his relationship with girlfriend Dawn Staples, played by Emily Blunt, seems tense.
    Lauren Huff, EW.com, 29 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Anxious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anxious. Accessed 3 May. 2025.

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