apprehensive
/aprɪˈhɛnsɪv
/adjective
1Anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen: he felt apprehensive about going home...
- I was very anxious and apprehensive about going in to work.
- In the absence of common interests states will be competitive, apprehensive, and even fearful.
- Approaching exam time children get apprehensive and nervous about learning and become worried about making a fool of themselves.
Synonyms
anxious, alarmed, worried, uneasy, nervous, concerned, agitated, restless, edgy, on edge, fidgety, tense, strained, stressed, neurotic, panicky, afraid, scared, frightened, fearful, terrified
informal on tenterhooks, trepidatious
British informal stressy
2 rare Relating to perception or understanding.
Derivatives
apprehensively
/ adverb ...- One of the boys sleeps on a sofa while the other stares complacently at the camera, arms raised apprehensively.
- I looked around apprehensively to find the ‘essential services only’ notice but could see nothing.
- We wonder apprehensively about what will happen to the traffic as the economy expands, and ever more people switch from two wheels to four.
apprehensiveness
/ noun ...- Patients experience overwhelming apprehensiveness and anxiety, fear of death, and coldness, followed by body weakness and dizziness.
- You're driving mad with all this constant eye moving, and apprehensiveness, and such.
- If everything had been taken into account, her apprehensiveness towards others had probably started in elementary school, around second grade.
Origin
Late Middle English (in sense 2): from French appréhensif or medieval Latin apprehensivus, from Latin apprehendere 'seize, grasp' (see apprehend).