A worrywart is a person who unduly dwells upon the possibility of trouble or difficulties. Worrywart is the preferred spelling, though worry wart is rendered as two words about a third of the time. Worrywart is an American term which comes from a comic strip character named Worry Wart which ran from the 1920s through the 1970s. Originally, worrywart meant someone who pesters others, but in time it came to mean someone who frets over the possibility of trouble.
A worryguts is a person who unduly dwells upon the possibility of trouble or difficulties. Worryguts is the preferred spelling, though worry-guts is rendered as two hyphenated words about half the time. Worryguts is a British term of unknown origin, first seen in the 1930s.
Examples
As a confirmed worrywart, I always have a lot on my mind. (The Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Although Watt and Walker discussed the author’s idea for Bug in a Vacuum a decade ago, the project was put on the back burner when the author launched a series about the endearing worrywart Scaredy Squirrel in 2006. (Publishers Weekly)
This musical adaptation of the children’s book follows worrywart Toad and perky Frog through an adventure-filled year. (The Las Vegas Review-Journal)
As played by Mr. Wood, Brinnin is a nervous worrywart and dandified academic, impeccably attired in suspenders and bow tie, who seems always to be on the brink of tears. (The New York Times)
And if these medical sites have made you a worry wart, you are not far from being a cyberchondriac. (The Times of India)
For example, not only does it appear that we may have 30% more neurons firing at any one time which can lead us to overthink things, but the cingulate gyrus – the brain’s “worry wart”- is larger making us much better at recognizing our mistakes and prone to ruminate on them. (Forbes)
DCI Frank Haskins: Ulcer-ridden, common-cold-prone, worryguts of a boss to Regan. (The Independent)
“Eric was the worry-guts type,” said John Ammonds who produced the shows. (The Express)