焦虑
jiāolù · HSK 7
anxious
🔥 焦 = scorched/burnt + 虑 = worry; so anxiety is being burnt-up with worry
焦 carries the sense of scorched or charred (same char as in burnt rice), and 虑 means to worry or ponder. Together 焦虑 is the worn-out, burnt feeling of constant worry.
焦 — bird 隹 over fire 灬
焦 is an associative compound showing a short-tailed bird (隹) above fire (灬), depicting roasting a bird until scorched. The original sense was 'burnt' or 'charred,' which extended to 'scorched, dried out,' and metaphorically to 'anxious, worried' (as in 焦急).