What does worrywart mean?
A worrywart is an informal English noun for someone who worries excessively, habitually, or about comparatively small matters. Unlike “worrier,” which can be used neutrally, “worrywart” usually carries a mildly critical or teasing edge: it presents habitual worry as a conspicuous personal trait. The term often appears in comments about anxious travelers, overprotective parents, cautious colleagues, or people who anticipate every possible inconvenience, though its tone can become affectionate among friends. In everyday conversation, calling someone a worrywart is generally more rhetorical than analytical. It can also function attributively before a noun, as in “a worrywart aunt,” without becoming a separate adjective. Because the expression combines an everyday verb with a familiar, slightly comic noun, it vividly conveys a tendency that ordinary words such as “worried” or “anxious” do not fully capture.
nounAn informal term for a person who worries excessively or habitually, often about minor or imagined problems.
- A person who worries excessively or habitually, especially about minor, uncertain, or imagined problems.
"Don't be such a worrywart; the flight is already booked."
"Don't be such a worrywart; the flight is already booked."
"Her aunt is a notorious worrywart who checks every lock twice."
The standard plural of the noun.
"Several family worrywarts had already called the airline to check the delay."
A worrywart is someone whose imagination has supplied every possible disaster.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does worrywart come from?
Worrywart is an English compound formed from worry + wart and is attested from the 1930s. The compound is playfully dismissive: wart contributes the image of a small personal blemish or irritating quirk. Worry was already established in English, while wart continues Old English wart; forms such as worried, worrying, and worrisome belong to the related word family built on worry.
How worrywart is actually used
Primarily informal and often mildly derogatory, although it can be used affectionately when speaking to a friend or family member. The word is common in everyday speech but is not normally used as a clinical term.
Easily confused with worrywart
Both can mean a person who worries, but a worrier can be used neutrally, whereas a worrywart is usually informal and mildly critical or teasing.