Synonym Chooser

How is the word solicitude distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of solicitude are anxiety, care, concern, and worry. While all these words mean "a troubled or engrossed state of mind or the thing that causes this," solicitude implies great concern and connotes either thoughtful or hovering attentiveness toward another.

acted with typical maternal solicitude

When could anxiety be used to replace solicitude?

Although the words anxiety and solicitude have much in common, anxiety stresses anguished uncertainty or fear of misfortune or failure.

plagued by anxiety and self-doubt

In what contexts can care take the place of solicitude?

The words care and solicitude can be used in similar contexts, but care implies oppression of the mind weighed down by responsibility or disquieted by apprehension.

a face worn by years of care

When can concern be used instead of solicitude?

The words concern and solicitude are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, concern implies a troubled state of mind because of personal interest, relation, or affection.

crimes caused concern in the neighborhood

When is it sensible to use worry instead of solicitude?

The meanings of worry and solicitude largely overlap; however, worry suggests fretting over matters that may or may not be real cause for anxiety.

financial worries

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 solicitude Even the Scotland Residents page on Facebook, usually seething with vitriol directed toward neighbors and local officials alike, was full of solicitude and suggestions and offers of help. Gary Greenberg, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024 Nature has made this a necessity: Without constant care and solicitude, an infant will die. Roxana Robinson, TIME, 18 July 2024 This idea will add the inducements of philanthropy to those of patriotism, to heighten the solicitude which all considerate and good men must feel for the event. Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 30 May 2024 That’s surely what accounts for the solicitude that the cryptocurrency industry has been receiving from Congress. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024 See All Example Sentences for solicitude
Recent Examples of Synonyms for solicitude
Noun
  • On both the commercial, as well as the military side, the ability to deliver against order books was a paramount concern due to the ongoing ramp in commercial deliveries, and the shortfalls in munitions and missiles from wars in Ukraine and the mid-East.
    Jerrold Lundquist, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025
  • This has increased concern over escalating rhetoric and the possibility that individual actors will feel compelled to take matters into their own hands.
    Odette Yousef, NPR, 21 June 2025
Noun
  • The fear, in fact, is that our continual need to standardize will modernize ourselves out of existence.
    Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2025
  • Levine also challenged Ono’s inaction as a pro-Hamas encampment took hold in the heart of Michigan’s campus, causing terror and fear among Jewish students.
    Avi D. Gordon, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 June 2025
Noun
  • Indeed, the designer’s intentions are based on high ideals — kindness, tolerance and humility among them — even if his methods can sometime shock.
    Miles Socha, Footwear News, 25 June 2025
  • Coach Wall was a remarkable individual whose kindness and genuine spirit touched all who knew him.
    Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
Noun
  • Too much attention, often understandably driven by shareholder and financial analyst anxiety, is being placed on the lagging indicators of current performance.
    Paul Laudicina, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025
  • An earlier 2019 study in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance found turbulence, unfamiliar aircraft noises, and the threat of terror attacks were among the top anxiety triggers.
    Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 June 2025
Noun
  • Eliana, a 33 year-old nurse in the hospital’s plastic surgery department, was among the mothers who gave birth in the past week, entrusting her own colleagues with her care under fire.
    NBC News, NBC news, 20 June 2025
  • Household appliances emerged champion among the categories, bringing in 110.1 billion yuan in sales, while beauty and skin care products clocked in 43.2 billion yuan in sales, according to Syntun.
    Bernice Ooi, CNBC, 20 June 2025
Noun
  • The fact Ishiba’s LDP faces an election on July 20 only heightens the BOJ’s worries about the political establishment striking back.
    William Pesek, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
  • But plenty of Republicans have expressed worries about the provision as well, imperiling its passage.
    Andrew R. Chow, Time, 25 June 2025
Noun
  • Despite the stark beauty in one of the state's most productive agricultural regions, there's a sense of unease among the community's leaders as Congress debates a budget bill that could radically reshape Medicaid, the government health program for low-income people.
    John Daley, NPR, 22 June 2025
  • Then again, the Justices’ unease about whether children and adolescents can genuinely consent to life-altering treatments would be lacking in the case of adults.
    Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 20 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Solicitude.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/solicitude. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

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