anxious
/ˈæŋ(k)ʃəs/
"anxious" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“anxious” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,112 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #6,112
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nervous and worried.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | anxious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈæŋ(k)ʃəs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #6,112 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “anxious” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for anxious is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæŋ(k)ʃəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,112 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for anxious, with forms such as "anixous", "annxious", and "anxiosu". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "anxiously", "animus", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin anxius, from angō (“to cause pain, choke”); akin to Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ánkhō, “to choke”). See anger; angst. The correct English form is anxious, spelled A-N-X-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Nervous and worried.
- 2Having a feeling of anxiety or disquietude; extremely concerned, especially about something that will happen in the future or that is unknown.
- 3Accompanied with, or causing, anxiety; worrying.
- 4Earnestly desirous.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin anxius, from angō (“to cause pain, choke”); akin to Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ánkhō, “to choke”). See anger; angst.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: anixous,annxious,anxiosu,anxiouss,anxiuos,anxoius,anxxious,axnious,naxious
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of anxious - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “anxious”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-N-X-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæŋ(k)ʃəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “anxiously” - see the side-by-side comparison. anxious vs anxiously
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.