performance anxiety

Meanings

nounperformance anxiety (usually uncountable, plural performance anxieties)

uncountableusuallyAnxiety or fear about performing in front of an audience; stage fright.
uncountableusuallyA similar anxiety about the impressiveness of one's sexual performance.
uncountableusuallyA similar anxiety about one's ability to urinate in the presence of others; paruresis.
If someone can hear you, they can hear that you're not doing anything. It's a sort of performance anxiety that builds and feeds on itself.
1999 May 21, Mary Roach, “Bashful Bladders”, in salon.com

Also see

Chinese Mandarin 性無能 /性无能

性無能 /性无能 (xìngwúnéng)anxiety about the impressiveness of one's sexual performance

Finnish suorituspaine

Swedish prestationsångest

Cite this entry

APA

performance anxiety. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/performance%20anxiety

MLA

“performance anxiety.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/performance%20anxiety. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “performance anxiety,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/performance%20anxiety.