anxiously

comparative more anxiously · superlative most anxiously · alternative obsolete anctiously

1. In an anxious manner; with painful uncertainty; solicitously.

   He anxiously awaited the arrival of his child.

   3 more examples

   He tried to persuade Cicely to stay away from the ball-room for a fourth dance.[…]But she said she must go back, and when they joined the crowd again[…]she found her mother standing up before the seat on which she had sat all the evening searching anxiously for her with her eyes, and her father by her side.

   1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter I, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC

   'Even in summer, Grannie?' Heidi persisted anxiously.

   1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 46

   High school seniors across California are anxiously awaiting word on their public university acceptances. But thousands of other soon-to-be graduates are virtually locked out. A key reason? Nearly half haven’t taken the required classes.

   2026 March 27, Mikhail Zinshteyn, Carolyn Jones, “Getting into a UC or Cal State requires these classes. Almost half of students don’t take them”, in KPBS, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2026