- care
- care n Care, concern, solicitude, anxiety, worry are comparable when meaning either a state of mind in which one is engrossed and troubled by something pertinent to oneself or another, or the pertinent thing that engrosses and troubles one. The same distinctions in implications and connotations are evident in their corresponding adjectives (careful, concerned, solicitous, anxious, worried) when they mean engrossed and troubled by a particular matter.Care and careful (which is archaic in this sense; see also CAREFUL 2) imply preoccupation and oppression of mind because of heavy responsibilities or disquieting fears or apprehensions{
the king . . . most sovereign slave of care— Thoreau
}{her face was worn with care
}{she was free ... to go where she liked and do what she liked. She had no responsibilities, no cares— Bennett
}{be careful for nothing; but in every thing . . . let" your requests be made known unto God— Phil 4:6
}Concern and concerned stress absence of indifference, but they also imply a degree of care because of one's interest, affection, respect, or responsibility{his child's future was his greatest concern
}{an adult who falls on the street is the object of concern and commiseration— Repplier
}{it was quite characteristic of the state of mind of England in the summer of 1914 that Mr. Britling should be mightily concerned about the conflict in Ireland, and almost deliberately negligent of the possibility of a war with Germany— H. G. Wells
}Solicitude and solicitous imply profound concern; sometimes they connote extreme apprehensiveness, but more often they suggest thoughtfulness for another's welfare, well-being, or success and sometimes an almost hovering attentiveness in another's misfortune{they . . . tended the wounded man with the gentlest solicitude— Dickens
}{with motherly solicitude, he insisted that Tom get to his feet— Anderson
}{they . . . were as solicitous to see it through for me as though I had been an only child among a lot of maiden aunts— Mary Austin
}The last two pairs of words in this group imply far more agitation and depression than the first three.Anxiety and anxious stress the anguish of fear coupled with uncertainty or of the anticipation of impending failure, misfortune, or disaster{poor Miss Maria! she was anxious, no doubt . . . over money matters. Ladies ought not to have such anxieties— Deland
}{the child's inner life is often a turmoil of terrors and anxieties of which his parents know almost nothing— Inge
}Worry and worried usually suggest more mental activity, often futile, than anxiety and anxious or more fretting or stewing over problems or situations or persons that are a cause of solicitude or anxiety{because the list of her worries is too long, it is difficult to feel as sorry for her as one ought— Moore head
}{the high command . . . had begun to wrinkle their brows. They were perplexed, vexed and worried— Pyle
}{worried ... by the need for keeping up their social positions— Shaw
}Analogous words: trouble, pains, *effort, exertion: disquieting or disquiet, perturbing or perturbation, discomposing or discomposure (see corresponding verbs at DISCOMPOSE): vigilance, watchfulness, alertness (see corresponding adjectives at WATCHFUL)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
