Cambridge directly records anxious about + noun and anxious + to-infinitive, with a useful meaning contrast between worry and eagerness.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionEnglish Usage
Quick answer
Use “anxious about something” for worry or nervousness concerning a situation. Cambridge also records “anxious to do something” for strong eagerness or desire to act.
Key details
Confusion Familyverb-complement
Rule Familyverb-complementation
Termsanxious to do, anxious about something
Further guidance
Core difference
Cambridge documents anxious about + noun for concern and anxious + to-infinitive for eagerness or strong desire.
Style Boundary
Do not flatten the two constructions into interchangeable complements: Cambridge distinguishes their typical senses.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
Anxious↗ (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for anxious about + noun and anxious + to-infinitive.
Cambridge directly records amazed + to-infinitive and amazed at + complement, making it an evidence-safe replacement for the unsupported Satisfied proposal.
Oxford directly records both ashamed + to-infinitive and ashamed of + noun/pronoun. The guide compares those attested structures without inventing an unsupported parallel complement.
Oxford directly documents averse to (doing) something. This is a prepositional to + noun/-ing construction, so a bare infinitive should not be assumed to be an interchangeable complement.
Oxford documents the idiomatic adjective pattern bent on (doing) something for determination. The evidence does not license a parallel bent + to-infinitive complement for that same meaning.
Cambridge directly records certain + to-infinitive and certain of + noun, allowing the two attested structures to be compared without claiming they are freely interchangeable.
