Anxieties

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Nervous feelings or worries regarding uncertain future events
2. States of uneasiness or apprehension about what might happen in the future
3. Emotional conditions marked by concern or nervous anticipation of possible outcomes

Etymology: "Anxieties" is simply the plural of "anxiety," so the story belongs to the singular. The root is Latin "angere," meaning "to distress or trouble," and the same root sits behind the Greek "ankhein," "to choke." The physical sense of tightness is the original picture: distress as something that squeezes the chest. That image survives in the English words "anger" and "angst," which share the same ancestry. Latin "anxius" added the idea of being troubled or uneasy, and from it came "anxietas," meaning distress of mind. English took this Latin noun directly, so "anxiety" is a borrowing rather than a word passed down through French. Its meaning has stayed close to the original: a state of mental distress, now most often a persistent nervous worry about what may happen.

Synonyms: worries, concerns, fears, nervousness, apprehensions

Antonyms: calm, confidence, serenity, assurance, composure