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unrelaxed

unrelaxed

5.6
Feeling nervous and tense because of worry or pressure
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnrɪˈlæksd/
translation icon : tenso
  • The tense atmosphere in the meeting made everyone feel unrelaxed.

Examples

  • I so badly wanted to get it "right," but my attempts made me feel hypervigilant and unrelaxed.

    Blog text (21)
  • " I became suddenly very unrelaxed.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • After a long day at work, I felt unrelaxed and couldn't wait to relax at home.

  • She sat there unrelaxed, fiddling with her hands as the deadline approached.

Synonyms

unstrung
vsunrelaxed
1 7.6

Very nervous and unable to think clearly after a shock or stress

is tense or strained from ongoing pressure rather than sudden shock
unstill
vsunrelaxed
7.7

Restless and unable to keep calm

is tense or under continual pressure rather than merely restless

Antonyms

735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

241 1.0

Calm and not worried

How Relaxed

calm
735 1.0
relaxed
241 1.0
uneasy
98 3.2
unrelaxed
5.6
tense
310 3.6

Surface Forms

unrelaxed positive

Morphology

unrelaxed = relaxed (transparent) = un + relax + ed

Direct negative prefixation of the familiar adjective 'relaxed'; meaning 'not relaxed' is immediately inferable.

Etymology

Unrelaxed is made of un- 'not' and relax, which comes from a word meaning 'to loosen' and is the same as lax 'loose'. So unrelaxed means 'not loose' — feeling tense or under pressure.