worrywart
Meaning
a person who tends to worry too much or who often feels anxious about things that might happen.
Structure
Usage
don't be such a worrywart; the weather forecast is usually wrong.
my grandfather is a bit of a worrywart, always checking if the doors are locked three times.
she called herself a worrywart because she couldn't stop thinking about potential problems at work.
Etymology
The word "worrywart" is a modern American English compound, first recorded in the 1950s. It creatively combines "worry," a verb of Old English origin originally meaning to strangle or seize by the throat, with "wart," a noun for a small, benign skin growth. The term employs "wart" not in its literal sense but as a colloquial, mildly derogatory suffix to label a person, similar to its use in words like "tattletale." The logic of the compound is metaphorical, painting a vivid picture of a person whose defining, and perhaps irritating, characteristic is persistent, often unnecessary, anxiety.
Analysis
worry (from old english wyrgan, meaning to strangle or to be anxious; functional role: root conveying the core concept of anxiety). wart (from old english wearte, meaning a small, hard growth on the skin; functional role: metaphorical suffix, used pejoratively to denote a person characterized by the root).