different between discreet vs anxious

English

Etymology

From Middle English discrete, from Old French discret, from Latin discr?tus, from past participle of discernere. Doublet of discrete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??sk?i?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t
• Homophone: discrete (separable into parts)

Adjective

discreet (comparative more discreet or discreeter, superlative most discreet or discreetest)

1. Respectful of privacy or secrecy; exercising caution in order to avoid causing embarrassment; quiet; diplomatic.

   With a discreet gesture, she reminded him to mind his manners.

   John just doesn't understand that laughing at Mary all day is not very discreet.

2. Not drawing attention, anger or challenge; inconspicuous.

Usage notes

• Although cognate and identical in the Middle English period, the term has become distinct from discrete.

Derived terms

• discreetly
• discretion

Translations

Anagrams

• desertic, discrete

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch discreet, from Old French discret, from Medieval Latin discr?tus, from discern?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?s?kre?t/
• Hyphenation: dis?creet
• Rhymes: -e?t

Adjective

discreet (comparative discreter, superlative discreetst)

1. discreet (with discretion)
2. discrete (not continuous)

Inflection

Derived terms

• discretie

English

Alternative forms

• anctious (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin anxius, from ang? (“to cause pain, choke”); akin to Ancient Greek ???? (ánkh?, “to choke”). See anger; angst.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?a?(k)??s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?æ?(k).??s/
• Hyphenation: anx?ious

Adjective

anxious (comparative more anxious or anxiouser, superlative most anxious or anxiousest)

1. Nervous and worried.
2. Having a feeling of anxiety or disquietude; extremely concerned, especially about something that will happen in the future or that is unknown.

   • Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
3. (of things) Accompanied with, or causing, anxiety; worrying.
4. Earnestly desirous.

Usage notes

• Anxious is followed by for, about, concerning, etc., before the object of solicitude.
• Some argue that this word should only be used in the sense of "worried" or "worrisome".

Synonyms

• angstful
• careful
• concerned
• disturbed
• restless
• solicitous
• uneasy
• unquiet
• watchful
• worrisome

Derived terms

• anxiously
• anxiousness

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• Anxiety on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• anxious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• anxious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Siouxan