Worried to Death

Also: Worry oneself to death

Meaning of Idiom ‘Worried to Death’

To be worried to death means to be extremely worried or anxious.  ¹Ammer, Christine.  American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. 

See worried sick.

Examples Of Use

“The hurricane is about to make landfall. Do you think everyone got out okay?” “I don’t know and I’m worried to death about it.”

“I keep hearing that Casey is drinking again. It worries me to death.”

“You’re worrying yourself to death over nothing.”

Origin

Used since the second half of the 1800s, ²Ammer, Christine.  American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.  this idiom is a more emphatic version of worried sick but is also one of several similar idioms such as bored to death and sick to death.

More Idioms Starting with W

• Warm Up
• When Hell Freezes Over
• What (why, who, how, where) On Earth
• Worried Sick (about someone or something)
• Writer’s Block

More Death Idioms

• Bored to Death
• Catch Your Death (You’ll)
• Be the Death of (me, someone)
• At Death’s Door

More Worry Idioms

• Worried Sick (about someone or something)

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