Inquietudes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state of unease or restlessness that interrupts tranquility
2. Feelings of anxiety or worry that create a sense of disturbance
3. Emotional disturbances characterized by a lack of peace and stability

Etymology: Inquietudes is simply the plural of "inquietude," so it carries the same sense: an unsettled state that breaks a calm. The singular came into English as a learned borrowing from Latin "inquiētūdō," a word built from "in-," meaning "not," and "quiētūdō," meaning "quietness" or "rest." The Latin noun itself grew from "quiēs," "rest," which is the root behind English "quiet" and "quiescent." The result is a word whose core is simply the opposite of rest. Its English form keeps the negative prefix and the stillness at its heart, so a state of inquietude is literally a lack of quiet. Using the plural suggests several such disturbances or moods at once, a sense the singular does not carry on its own.

Synonyms: anxieties, uneasiness, worries

Antonyms: calmness, serenity