From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Anxious \Anx"ious\ ([a^][ng]k"sh[u^]s), adjective [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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: 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}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
135 Moby Thesaurus words for "anxious": aching, aghast, agitated, agog, alacritous, alarmed, all agog, all-overish, anguished, animated, annoyed, antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxioused up, apprehensive, ardent, athirst, avid, beset, bored, bothered, breathless, bursting to, careful, cautious, chafing, cheerless, concerned, depressed, desirous, disgusted, disquieted, distressed, disturbed, eager, edgy, embarrassed, enthusiastic, excited, fearful, foreboding, forward, fretful, fretting, frightened, full of life, grim, harassed, hasty, hopped-up, ill at ease, impatient, impetuous, importunate, in a lather, in a pucker, in a stew, in a sweat, in suspense, inconvenienced, irked, jittery, joyless, keen, keyed-up, lively, longing, misgiving, nauseated, nauseous, nervous, on edge, on tenterhooks, on tiptoe, overanxious, overapprehensive, panting, perturbed, plagued, pleasureless, pressing, prey to malaise, prompt, put to it, puzzled, qualmish, qualmy, quick, quivering, raring to, ready, ready and willing, repelled, restive, restless, revolted, sad, scared, scary, sickened, solicitous, sore beset, spirited, squirming, squirmy, strained, suffering angst, suspenseful, taut, tense, terrified, thirsty, troubled, uncertain, uneasy, unfulfilled, ungratified, unhappy, unpatient, unquiet, unsatisfied, upset, urgent, vexed, vital, vivacious, vivid, wary, watchful, with bated breath, with muscles tense, worried, yearning, zealous, zestful
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