anxiously

adverb

Definition of anxiouslynext
as in apprehensively

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 anxiously What exactly are you supposed to do for those full seven days before a trip besides anxiously waiting to check into your flight? — Julia Morlino, Travel + Leisure, 11 Sep. 2026 Nelza Moktan anxiously sought information about her missing cousin, who also worked as a driver in Rasuwa. — Victoria Milko, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026 Instead, he’s spent August anxiously watching the orange skies from his house in the northern Nevada hills through two consecutive and adjacent wild-land fires, the Bug and Hawk Fires. — Anya Kamenetz, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2026 With college football beginning in earnest this Saturday, many fans are anxiously awaiting to see how the chips will fall in a wide open season in 2026. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 Aug. 2026 Guillen’s family waited anxiously as the same surgical team who treated Hawley four years before removed part of Guillen’s skull to release the pressure on her brain. — Blake Ellis, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026 Sunil Pradhan / Anadolu via Getty Images Syed Sadique, who runs a tour agency based in southern India, was waiting anxiously for news on the fate of 57 people traveling with his company, including his tour guide son, Sayed Umar Farook. — Laura Saravia, NBC news, 27 Aug. 2026 Joel Dowen paced back and forth on the second floor of his Concord residence as DEA agents waited anxiously outside. — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Aug. 2026 And these new contestants are now all anxiously waiting to find out who among them will be literally hand-selected as Traitors courtesy of a secret shoulder touch by Cumming. — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anxiously
  1. apprehensively
  2. uneasily
  3. uncomfortably
  4. critically
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
  • But something about this prospect still sat uneasily with Umaga.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The company’s twin values of work and quirk can sit uneasily in the distractible, self-serious fashion world, to the point that fashion at Hermès has historically been regarded as something of an oxymoron.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of uneasily
Adverb
  • Love of father and country has, in some sense, been made great again, uncomfortably so, given the political moment.
    — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2026
  • In 17 different instances, ESPN cut to a camera pinned on Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, so uncomfortably close the viewer could see his thoughts forming.
    — Noah White, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of uncomfortably
Adverb
  • Meanwhile, Send Last Location automatically sends your iPhone's location to Apple when its battery reaches a critically low level.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • According to the account of Netanyahu and other passengers, Machchhar, a father, tried to fight off his co-pilot before being critically wounded with a small knife.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of critically

Browse Nearby Words

anxious
anxiously
anxiousness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Anxiously.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anxiously. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tittle

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All