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to weigh on someone's mind

to weigh on someone's mind

1 6.0
To make someone feel worried for a long time
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : preocupar
  • She felt the pressure of her upcoming exams weighing on her mind more than ever.
  • things weigh on my mind

Examples

  • Worries about her health began to weigh on his mind after the doctor's visit.

  • Seriously, this has been weighing on my mind.

  • Uh, let me ask you something that's been, uh, weighing on my mind.

  • Okay, but pensive, like you got a big decision weighing on your mind.

  • ♪ And it's weighing on my mind

  • Other long-term consequences of treatment that might weigh on parents' minds include the effects of the chemotherapy drugs their child has to take.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The uncertainty of the future continued to weigh on his mind as he lay awake at night.

Synonyms

to worry about
vsto weigh on someone's mind
2.0

Feel afraid about what might happen to someone or something

causes someone to feel anxiety over time rather than simply experiencing it
to worry
vsto weigh on someone's mind
1.0

To make someone feel nervous or upset about possible problems

causes broad ongoing anxiety and concern over time rather than problem focus
to weigh
vsto weigh on someone's mind
89 5.8

To make someone feel worried or burdened

causes prolonged anxiety and concern over time rather than mere heaviness
to strain
vsto weigh on someone's mind
67 3.9

To make someone feel tense or nervous

leads to ongoing anxiety and concern over time rather than short-term tension
to weigh on
vsto weigh on someone's mind
23 5.2

To cause worry or sadness that stays in someone's mind

focuses on ongoing anxiety and concern over time rather than sadness or pressure
to weigh down
vsto weigh on someone's mind
9 4.9

Make someone feel sad or worried

produces ongoing anxiety and concern rather than mainly sadness
to nag
vsto weigh on someone's mind
5 3.9

To feel a small, constant worry that bothers you

creates ongoing anxiety over time without implying repeated bothering
to hang heavy
vsto weigh on someone's mind
2 8.6

To create a dark, worrying feeling that stays with people

refers to causing a person to feel anxiety over time rather than describing atmosphere
to hang over someone's head
vsto weigh on someone's mind
7.6

Keep someone worried about something bad that might happen

creates ongoing anxiety over time not limited to future threats
to overwind
vsto weigh on someone's mind
7.9

To make someone feel very nervous and upset

produces prolonged anxiety and concern over time rather than extreme agitation

Antonyms

1.0

To feel less nervous and more calm

172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Troubling

to torment
  • NSFW
107 7.2
to plague
121 5.6
to weigh on someone's mind
1 6.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

weigh + on + someone's + mind

The expression maps a common weight-as-burden metaphor onto cognition: 'weigh' + 'on' + 'mind' evokes something pressing on one's thoughts, so learners who know 'weigh' and 'mind' can often infer it means causing persistent worry. However, the sense is metaphorical and relies on a conventional collocation ('weigh on someone's mind'), so understanding is partially predictable but not fully literal.

Etymology

The idiom weigh on someone's mind comes from the image of a heavy weight pressing down on the head or thoughts. So, when something weighs on your mind, it feels like a weight that makes you 'feel worried' or troubled for a long time.