overanxious

3 7.0

Someone who worries too much about small problems, often more than needed

adjective
/ˌoʊvərˈæŋkʃəs/

: sobreansioso

The truth is she's trying too hard, overanxious to make an impression.
overanxious disorder

Examples

I'm afraid we were all a little overanxious.

The Badlanders (1958)
Trouble with you, Buck, you're overanxious.

The Vampire (1957)
I guess I am a little overanxious to make some friends.

Never Talk to Strangers (1995)
Maybe he was a little overanxious, huh?

The Replacements (2000)
These people are just so overanxious.

The Bellboy (1960)
I must have been overanxious.

From Here to Eternity (1953)
I- I'm sorry if I seem overanxious.

Psycho (1998)
"Digging her fork into a piece of fish, she concluded, "The problem with me is that I'm overanxious."

Fiction book (1996)
Julia Carlson, underdressed, overanxious, enters the banquet hall.

Fiction book (2001)
She gets overanxious before exams, worrying about every possible outcome.

Synonyms

overwrought

vsoveranxious

13 7.8

Feeling very nervous and upset because of strong emotion

is anxiety that is excessive and reduces effectiveness rather than useful alertness

overstrung

vsoveranxious

8.2

Feeling very nervous and tense because of worry

is anxiety taken so far that it becomes counterproductive or unnecessary

Antonyms

calm

735 1.0

Not showing strong feelings and being very still

unworried

1 2.3

Someone who feels calm and not upset about problems

How Anxious

panicked

16 4.6

overanxious

3 7.0

anxious

201 2.7

uneasy

98 3.2

calm

735 1.0

Surface Forms

overanxious positive

Morphology

overanxious = anxious (transparent) = over + anxious

The prefix 'over-' meaning 'excessively' combines directly with the adjective 'anxious' to produce 'excessively anxious', a straightforward intensifying formation.

Etymology

Overanxious is made of the prefix over- meaning 'too much' and the word anxious meaning 'worried'. So it literally means being 'too worried', like having your worry turned up too high, which is why it often makes things harder instead of better.