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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
anxious
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
an anxious/troubled/worried expression
▪ She stood looking at me with an anxious expression.
unduly worried/concerned/anxious etc
▪ She doesn’t seem unduly concerned about her exams.
worried/anxious
▪ My father watched us go with a worried face.
worried/concerned/anxious etc lest ...
▪ He paused, afraid lest he say too much.
▪ She worried lest he should tell someone what had happened.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
also
▪ Station-masters and conductors were also anxious to emphasize their exalted positions.
▪ Cindy seemed in some ways proud of the way she had learned to communicate with Robbie but was also anxious about it.
▪ Although the centre is also anxious to attract women, this will take some time.
▪ The Finance Houses Association were also anxious to ensure that collection practices conformed to the highest ethical standards.
▪ The Opposition was also anxious to embarrass the Government, and to trap it within its own latent inconsistencies.
▪ Reassuring, but also anxious beneath.
▪ We are also anxious to see marine nature conservation strengthened.
as
▪ The seller is probably at least as anxious to sell as you are to buy.
▪ He was as anxious as Betty for Russell to stay in this sunny home with the starched curtains.
▪ Ministers were as anxious as their predecessors to preserve Britain's privileged position in the Western alliance.
▪ Each was as anxious as the families and the Managing Director about the opening of their markets.
▪ There may be nervousness at night, trembling limbs, though not as anxious as Aconite.
As the Kirkwood tutor, young David seemed as anxious as his employer-friends that the estate should survive.
more
▪ Stiff and inelegant, she followed him, more anxious than ever in her life to please.
▪ Few have been more anxious to be remembered for having made important contributions to the greatness of the nation.
▪ No one is more anxious that the penalties should be apt for the crime than those most immediately affected by prison disorder.
▪ The farther they went, the more anxious they grew.
▪ Some horses are actually born more anxious than others, and it makes them particularly difficult to train.
▪ They were more anxious to escape criticism than to honour Martin.
▪ If Balbinder didn't get a place at Cedars this year she would become even more anxious about his progress.
▪ Such horses that are locked up in stables without sensory stimulation for a long period will become permanently more anxious and fearful.
most
▪ Hugh Fraser predictably had been most anxious to join his friend and colleague in the dock.
▪ The most anxious and most depressed kids had the most severe symptoms.
▪ Yet keeper Craig Nelson's most anxious moments came from Frank McAvennie efforts one in each half.
▪ He has been most anxious to meet you.
particularly
▪ They're particularly anxious to hear from 2 men seen near the shop on the night of the murder.
▪ Add to it any points that you may be particularly anxious to get right and discuss it together.
▪ They're particularly anxious to find out what's happening.
▪ They are particularly anxious to hear from a man they think may have witnessed one attack.
so
▪ In fact, some of them were not even valued, so anxious were the Government to get rid of them.
▪ Which in turn made me curious as to why the numberdar was so anxious to have me along.
▪ In fact many parents were so anxious to sign that they actively sought out the petition holders.
▪ Because officials are so anxious to get good press, there is often tremendous pressure on the government press agent.
▪ Are you so anxious to know what it feels like to have both eyeballs gouged out, one at a time?
▪ I was so anxious I could not sleep.
▪ He couldn't fathom why she was so anxious that no one else should know of his interest in her.
▪ I see now why you're so anxious to get me married off to Honor.
too
▪ I was too anxious - far too anxious - and this put my interviewers on their guard.
▪ They are too anxious about being something else than simply men, not firmly enough poised.
▪ The last time she had walked down this lane she had been too anxious about Susan to notice very much.
▪ And she was none too anxious to hear about the show.
▪ Ari would be far too anxious in a fully conscious state.
▪ Cranston, too, was thinking about events in the Tower but was too anxious to concentrate on the problems they posed.
very
▪ She looked rather queasy, and very anxious.
▪ A: People are very upset and very anxious.
▪ The most noticeable feature of this session is that everybody is very anxious.
▪ Mr Tomlinson became very anxious and looked for the passenger both on and under the train.
▪ There is no doubt that, superficially at least, the transsexual consents, is indeed very anxious that surgery be carried out.
▪ The Oracle clearly becomes very anxious about this and demands to know their business.
▪ She subsequently attended the genetic counselling clinic, and was very anxious about the situation.
■ NOUN
face
▪ Vervet monkeys with their anxious faces come closer to look at us.
▪ Seeing their sad, anxious faces, I wonder if perhaps Jerry has been presenting his side after all.
▪ Their anxious faces were hidden behind dark glasses - in case the people holding Ben should recognise them.
▪ Jim could none the less tell by his anxious face that something was wrong.
▪ He walked slowly into Blue Horizons, longing for deep, knowing that he had first to face six anxious faces.
parent
▪ Two hundred of the children brought to the hospital by their anxious parents were recruited into the trial.
▪ Public schools were probably the greatest victims of the asbestos hoax because of understandable concerns raised by anxious parents.
▪ Stephen Spielberg says anxious parents should view it first.
▪ A helpline has been set up for anxious parents.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "Please come with me," she said in an anxious voice.
anxious employees
Anxious relatives waited at the airport for news of the plane crash.
▪ After an anxious wait, Audrey was told her father had died.
▪ an anxious glance
▪ For one anxious moment, I thought the rope was going to break.
▪ Gail was feeling anxious and depressed.
▪ Helen is always anxious about travelling alone.
▪ In the anxious days that followed, Henry tried to keep his mind off his results.
▪ Mae cast an anxious look in his direction.
▪ She knew it was a simple operation, but she still felt anxious.
▪ There were a few anxious moments for Morgan near the end of the match.
▪ When you become anxious about sleeplessness, you actually make the problem worse.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ After a long and anxious spell, she recovered.
▪ And, indeed, she was more than anxious to do what she could to help look after the twins.
▪ But he's just a bit anxious because you have never flown before.
▪ But Roy had thrown away his script, and he spent an anxious plane journey trying to remember his lines.
▪ Her long and anxious wait for breakfast had caused her so much stress, that she had developed colic and died.
▪ Some one with early stages of brain failure can be very aware of it, and anxious about what is happening to him/her.
▪ Some parents found social work visits made them fearful and anxious and their self-esteem was reduced.
▪ That flexibility itself is generally associated with more harmonious households and less anxious child-rearing.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Anxious

Anxious \Anx"ious\ ([a^][ng]k"sh[u^]s), a. [L. anxius, fr. angere to cause pain, choke; akin to Gr. 'a`gchein to choke. See Anger.]

  1. Full of anxiety or disquietude; greatly concerned or solicitous, esp. respecting something future or unknown; being in painful suspense; -- applied to persons; as, anxious for the issue of a battle.

  2. Accompanied with, or causing, anxiety; worrying; -- applied to things; as, anxious labor.

    The sweet of life, from which God hath bid dwell far off all anxious cares.
    --Milton.

  3. Earnestly desirous; as, anxious to please.

    He sneers alike at those who are anxious to preserve and at those who are eager for reform.
    --Macaulay.

    Note: Anxious is followed by for, about, concerning, etc., before the object of solicitude.

    Syn: Solicitous; careful; uneasy; unquiet; restless; concerned; disturbed; watchful.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
anxious

1620s, from Latin anxius "solicitous, uneasy, troubled in mind" (also "causing anxiety, troublesome"), from angere, anguere "choke, squeeze," figuratively "torment, cause distress" (see anger (v.)). The same image is in Serbo-Croatian tjeskoba "anxiety," literally "tightness, narrowness." Related: Anxiously; anxiousness.

Wiktionary
anxious

a. Full of anxiety or disquietude; greatly concerned or solicitous, especially respecting something future or unknown; being in painful suspense;—applied to persons; as, anxious for the issue of a battle.

WordNet
anxious
  1. adj. mentally upset over possible misfortune or danger etc; worried; "anxious parents"; "anxious about her job"; "not used to a city and anxious about small things"; "felt apprehensive about the consequences" [syn: apprehensive]

  2. eagerly desirous; "anxious to see the new show at the museum"; "dying to hear who won" [syn: anxious(p), dying(p)]

  3. causing or fraught with or showing anxiety; "spent an anxious night waiting for the test results"; "cast anxious glances behind her"; "those nervous moments before takeoff"; "an unquiet mind" [syn: nervous, uneasy, unquiet]

Usage examples of "anxious".

So, though Rosemary West may have physically abused him, neither she nor her husband were anxious to relinquish Steven McAvoy once he was in her hands.

I told her to keep quiet, but, being anxious not to frighten her, I dared not acquaint her with the danger we were running.

In the mean time, let me tell you what you are not acquainted with, and what you must be anxious to know.

The debate continued by adjournment up to Thursday the 28th of May, most of the peers being anxious to deliver their sentiments on this great subject.

Paul had hurried to the side of the aeronaut, who raised his hand in greeting, while a smile broke over his anxious face.

All at once the group opened up a bit and they saw a silvery, glittering aeroplane, agleam with new aluminum paint, throbbing and vibrating, as if anxious to be off.

Campion, ever anxious to be affable, smiled wryly round his handkerchief.

In the mean time Father Agaric, who managed his big school for young nobles, followed events with anxious attention.

Petersburg as to the meaning of that invasion, and it received the answer that Russia felt compelled to come to the rescue of the Ameer at his request, for the Afghan ruler was anxious for his independence, in view of the measures which were taken by England.

Steadfast Joaquin, anxious Ling, inscrutable Ament, all looking to him for a deliverance, and a happy ending it was not within his power to deliver.

I waited before the fire in the antechamber, anxious for news, wondering what Keir was going to do.

Physically present in their holographic midst, the elected representatives of the Arachnos, Sectae and Herculeans moved with anxious precision.

So, since the doctor is always anxious to accommodate those under his care, he has arst me to take you to visit him.

The greatest number of them disdained to have recourse to a denial, and seemed less anxious for the preservation of their own lives than for the honour of the cause in which they had embarked, not with the view of assassination, as had been demonstrated, but for the purpose of ascertaining the true state of the public feeling, which had been represented by some factious intriguers as favourable to the Bourbons.

He was lunching with Frederick Zern and other stockholders interested in the Aureole Mine, and was anxious to hear their opinions.