ALL meanings of anxiously
anx·ious
A a - noun anxiously In an anxious manner; with painful uncertainty; solicitously. 1
- adverb anxiously nervously 1
- adjective anxiously full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried; solicitous: Her parents were anxious about her poor health. 1
- adjective anxiously earnestly desirous; eager (usually followed by an infinitive or for): anxious to please; anxious for our happiness. 1
- adjective anxiously attended with or showing solicitude or uneasiness: anxious forebodings. 1
- noun anxiously The earliest sense of anxious (in the 17th century) was “troubled” or “worried”: We are still anxious for the safety of our dear sons in battle. Its meaning “earnestly desirous, eager” arose in the mid-18th century: We are anxious to see our new grandson. Some insist that anxious must always convey a sense of distress or worry and object to its use in the sense of “eager,” but such use is fully standard. 1