ANXIOUSLY Synonyms: 43 Similar and Opposite Words

anxiously

adverb

Definition of anxiously

as in apprehensively

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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 anxiously And Northlanders are already anxiously awaiting its grand opening. — Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 27 July 2026 And count the Packers among teams waiting anxiously for good news about their recovering star. — Mike Jones, New York Times, 27 July 2026 In West Africa, some researchers are anxiously checking to ensure that levels of resistance there have not reached the East African level. — Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026 Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, anxiously asked his staff how Israel could justify this scale of destruction. — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 Singer Gibby Haynes paces anxiously at centerstage, laughing maniacally into a megaphone. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 20 July 2026 Eli Griffith sat in a green room in the bowels of the Javits Center in Manhattan on the first day of Fanatics Fest waiting anxiously alongside his family. — Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026 Still, scientists had been anxiously awaiting details about how much that twice-a-year spinal shot really helped. — Lauran Neergaard, Fortune, 14 July 2026 Each year when Wimbledon rolls around, tennis fans crane their necks and watch their TV screens with undivided attention for a glance at the Royal Box, anxiously awaiting if Kate Middleton will be in attendance. — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 5 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for anxiously

Adverb

This show of sweetness fighting back against a sense of hopelessness builds an apprehensively brighter perspective than earlier work.

— Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025

Definition of apprehensively

Adverb

This oversharing of small details exists uneasily alongside a surprising lack of reflection on the book’s ostensible themes.

— Matthew Walther, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026
Back in Ithaca, his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and their grown son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), who hasn’t seen his father since childhood, cling uneasily to the hope that Odysseus is alive and on his way home.

— Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 July 2026

Definition of uneasily

Adverb

Job seekers are urged to demand full disclosure and critically assess if participating in such a system serves their best interests.

— Colleen Batchelder, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
In its last week, the critically praised Joe Turner scored the highest gross of its limited four-month engagement, taking $1,183,148 and filling 99% of the seats at the Ethel Barrymore.

— Greg Evans, Deadline, 28 July 2026

Definition of critically

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anxiously

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“Anxiously.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anxiously. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of anxiously

adverb

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