wound up
36
5.2
- idiom
- /waʊnd ʌp/
- Informal
- She was so wound up before her speech that she could hardly sit still.
- get wound up
- so wound up
- pretty wound up
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Watch on YouTubeHe's always wound up like everybody tells him unwind.
- He's always wound up like everybody tells him unwind.
- They want everybody to be as miserable and wound up as they are.
- I mean, this one gets me wound up like a cheap clock.
- Choose whatever helps you unwind, but avoid sending messages while you're all wound up.
- But again, it's if I think about that, you could start getting wound up and just so yeah, it's yeah, I tried to think about it too much.
Examples
-
It was a stressful meeting, and everyone felt wound up by the end.
-
Well, I got kind of wound up, I guess.
-
I was already wound up.
-
You seem kind of wound up.
-
"Now she was all wound up and had to stand to walk off some of it."
Fiction book (1999) -
Everything about her looked wound up, not so much scared, but like she wanted to go and fight herself.
Fiction book (1993) -
By the time they got there, he was wound up.
Fiction book (1998) -
We're too wound up to sleep.
Fiction book (1999) -
I was so wound up, I felt as if strong hands were squeezing me.
Fiction book (1995) -
They want everybody to be as miserable and wound up as they are.
Synonyms
94
3.9
Very worried and acting quickly in a wild, uncontrolled way
93
6.5
Very upset or nervous because of strong feelings
87
5.0
Nervous and tense so you cannot relax
84
4.1
Feeling nervous, upset, and not calm
18
4.0
Very tired and stressed from too much work or worry
8
5.6
Feeling excited in a strong emotional or physical way
5
6.9
Feeling nervous and excited, ready to start
5
4.4
Feeling very upset or excited and restless
5
7.5
Ready and excited to do something important
2
8.4
Angry and upset because something caused trouble
1
7.4
Feeling nervous and hurried after something sudden happens
Antonyms
How Tense
Surface Forms
Morphology
wound + up
The meaning ‘in a state of tension/nervousness’ is metaphorically related to being physically ‘wound’ (coiled/tight) with ‘up’ adding a sense of heightened or completed tension. This mapping from literal coil-to-tension is partly guessable by learners who know both words, but it relies on a metaphorical extension rather than straightforward composition, so it is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The adjective wound up comes from wind-up toys and clocks. When you wound something up, you turned a key to make a spring tight and full of ready energy, so someone 'wound up' feels tense or 'nervous'.