How to say “worry” in 38 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- preocupes/ˌpɾeoˈkupes/ Spanish
- беспокоиться[bʲɪspɐˈkoɪt͡sə] Russian
- ανησυχείς/ˌanisiˈçis/ Greek
- דאג/daˈʔaɡ/ Hebrew
- ആശങ്ക/aːʃɐŋkɐ/ Malayalam
- نگرانی[ne.ɡʲæ.ɹɒː.níː] Persian
“worry” in Spanish: preocupes · French: inquiétez · Italian: preoccupare · Russian: беспокоиться · Greek: ανησυχείς
It is commonest in Romanian, where grijă is the 254th most used word.
Worry in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans sorg/sɔrχ/ care; worry; concern #310
- Albanian shqetësohem/ʃcɛtəsɔhɛm/ to worry, to grieve, to be troubled #1,750
- Bengali দুশ্চিন্তা/d̪uʃt͡ʃint̪a/ anxiety, worry #1,109
- Bosnian briga/brîɡa/ worry, concern #408
- Bulgarian притеснявам[pritɛˈsnʲa̟vɐm] to worry someone #1,297
- Catalan preocupis/pɾeuˈkupis/ to worry, to concern #1,016
- Chinese 沒事/meɪ̯³⁵ ʂɻ̩⁵¹/ no problem; don't worry about it; that's OK;… #354
- Croatian briga/brîɡa/ worry, concern #417
- Czech starost[ˈstarost] concern, worry, anxiety #1,392
- Danish bekymret/beˈkømˀʁʌð/ to worry #694
- Esperanto zorgu/ˈzorɡu/ to worry #308
- Estonian muretse/ˈmuretse/ to worry #415
- Finnish huolta/ˈhuo̯ltɑ/ worry, concern #895
- French inquiétez/ɛ̃.kje.te/ to worry #1,689
- Galician tema/ˈtema/ to fear; to worry; to dread #779
- Georgian დარდი[d̥äɾdi] sorrow, worry, grief, concern #1,082
- Greek ανησυχείς/ˌanisiˈçis/ to worry, be worried, be concerned #413
- Hebrew דאג/daˈʔaɡ/ To worry, to be concerned #1,150
- Hindi चिंता/t͡ʃɪn.t̪ɑː/ anxiety, concern, worry #334
- Hungarian aggódj[ˈɒɡːoːɟː] to worry about something, to be anxious about… #513
- Indonesian khawatirkan/ˌxawaˈtirkan/ to worry about #1,978
- Italian preoccupare/pre.ok.kuˈpa.re/ to worry, to trouble, to bother #1,442
- Korean 걱정[kʌ̹k̚t͡ɕ͈ʌ̹ŋ] anxiety; worry #284
- Macedonian грижи[ˈɡriʒi] care, concern, worry #265
- Malay risau/risau̯/ to worry #402
- Malayalam ആശങ്ക/aːʃɐŋkɐ/ worry, doubt, apprehension; misgiving #1,382
- Norwegian bekymret/bəˈçʏmrət/ to worry #688
- Persian نگرانی[ne.ɡʲæ.ɹɒː.níː] worry, concern #2,163
- Polish martw/ˈmartf/ to worry #596
- Portuguese preocupes/ˌpreoˈkupis/ to concern, worry #655
- Romanian grijă/ˈɡri.ʒə/ #254
- Russian беспокоиться[bʲɪspɐˈkoɪt͡sə] to worry, to be anxious, to be uneasy #2,051
- Serbian briga/brîɡa/ worry, concern #418
- Spanish preocupes/ˌpɾeoˈkupes/ to worry, to concern, to trouble, to be… #530
- Swedish oroa/ˈuːruːˌa/ to worry #476
- Tagalog mag-alala/maɡʔalaˈla/ to worry; to be anxious #335
- Turkish endişe/en.di(ː)ˈʃe/ anxiety, worry, solicitude #1,386
- Vietnamese lo[lɔ˧˧] to bother; to worry #271
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.