anxiety Definition

anxiety
noun anxieties

1. A strong feeling of fear or distress which occurs as a normal response to a dangerous or stressful situation, symptoms of which may include trembling, sweating, rapid pulse rate, dry mouth, nausea, etc.

Thesaurus: anxiousness, uneasiness, worry, misgiving, nervousness, fretfulness, distress, dread, tension, apprehension, angst, foreboding.
2. informal
A worry.
Example: My one anxiety is that the flight might be late
3. psychiatry.
A form of neurosis characterized by excessive and lasting fear, often for no apparent reason.

Etymology: 16c in sense 1: from Latin anxietas; see also anxious.