worries

verb

present tense third-person singular of worry
1
as in fears
to experience concern or anxiety they worried for days about whether the loan would be approved

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in concerns
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy those strange noises outside the house worry me

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 worries Abdi worries that Miller’s latest promotion will further anti-immigrant policies, which have long painted Iranians and other immigrant communities as threats. — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026 Comen understands the desire for answers but worries that interpreting complex medical information without a physician’s guidance can heighten fear. — Emily Cegielski, Flow Space, 6 Nov. 2026 Krakoff worries that today’s creatives are expected to deliver immediate results without the freedom to experiment. — Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026 Responsibility For Making Payroll Stop being the only one who worries about whether payroll gets made. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026 Drury worries that the fees will fade into background noise, and that resistance will erode as a new norm sets in. — Emma Witman, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2026 Kerry worries Alex won’t be able to manage the stress of the job, but gradually, Alex turns things around. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2026 As the mother of a nine-year-old son, Lee worries about the dearth of positive male examples in online spaces. — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 3 Nov. 2026 Bichler worries that even voters who know that such ads are unreal will be subtly influenced by their imagery. — Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worries
  1. fears
  2. concerns
  3. stresses
  4. bothers
  5. frets
  6. alarms
  7. troubles
  8. disturbs
Verb
  • The opposition fears that Netanyahu could use a security crisis to stall or block a new government.
    — Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Tehran fears that surrendering its maritime leverage first would invite fresh demands; Washington worries that easing pressure would reward coercion without securing lasting constraints on Iran’s nuclear program.
    — Ali Vaez, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of fears
Verb
  • By his count, around 135,000 compounds lie outside conventional nutrition, which concerns itself mainly with energy, building blocks, and vitamins.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 12 Nov. 2026
  • In a post on X, Massie highlighted the third article of impeachment, which specifically concerns Section 5(b) of the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
    — Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of concerns
Verb
  • While everybody naturally stresses the football side of the trade that figures to fill a void for the Chiefs at the expense of 2027 fourth- and fifth-round draft picks, Mahomes in his greeting messages highlighted something else.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 12 Nov. 2026
  • Ysabel stresses about her hospital job, while Jomar experiences complicated feelings about the reappearance of an ex-boyfriend, Zach (Steven Cristi).
    — Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of stresses
Verb
  • The film was produced by the Zagha bothers for Avanti Pictures alongside Elsa Reyes and Películas V’s Valentín Javier Diment and Vanesa Pagani.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Television doesn’t lack for comedies that deliver biting satire and cogent commentary — that are, in fact, so committed to commentary that nobody bothers to even include jokes.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothers
Verb
  • Maybe Cowboy Space is striking while the iron is hot as the space industry frets over demand for launch outpacing supply.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2026
  • As the industry frets about consolidation, the slow decline of entertainment on broadcast TV in favor of live sports is yet another way Hollywood’s creative class is getting squeezed.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of frets
Verb
  • Some analysts say negotiators may be looking to grant Russia concessions on NATO’s strategy in return for peace in Ukraine — a possibility that alarms European leaders.
    — Harriet Morris, Los Angeles Times, 12 Nov. 2026
  • That prospect alarms those in Europe, who fear FIFA could increasingly challenge their competitions for space on an already overcrowded calendar.
    — Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of alarms
Verb
  • But the equity market’s rise this year has been driven primarily by just a few sectors, which troubles some analysts.
    — Steve Kopack, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The aspect of the painting that troubles me most, though, is the sleeve of Amélie’s dress.
    — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of troubles
Verb
  • Some of the sightings claim a man wearing clothing typical of the 17th or 18th centuries, a man dressed in Confederate attire in the liquor room, a ghost of a former worker Joseph Hardesty and a female who actively disturbs visitors to her home.
    — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Vibration disturbs the natural sediments in wine, flattening the flavor and aging it prematurely.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of disturbs

Browse Nearby Words

worriers
worries
worrisome
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Worries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worries. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All