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"Anxiogenic" in English means "something/someone that creates/induces/provokes anxiety".

Is there an equivalent in Italian? I can't find "ansiogenico" in Italian dictionaries.

I can find "ansiogeno" but this seems to mean "someone who has anxiety", rather than "something that creates/induces anxiety".

abarisone
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user180940
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1 Answers1

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The word you found ansiogeno, according to Treccani's dictionary

ansiògeno agg. [comp. di ansia e -geno]. – In psicologia e psichiatria, che genera ansia: situazione ansiogena.

exactly means:

In psychology and psychiatry, something that generates anxiety: anxiogen situation.

You can also apply the term to a situation or also to a person who generates anxiety on itself.

abarisone
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  • How do I apply it to a person that generates anxiety in other people, or to a population in general? – user180940 Apr 15 '21 at 09:35
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    @user180940 you can use it as any other adjective: "Maria è una persona ansiogena" = "Maria is an anxiogenic person", "non sopporto Mario per più di dieci minuti, è così ansiogeno!" = "I cannot stand Mario for longer than ten minutes, he is so anxiogenic!" – secan Apr 15 '21 at 11:21
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    Even though "ansiogeno" is the correct word, in spoken Italian it isn't used as often: "che ti mette ansia" ("who gives you anxiety") instead is much more likely to be used. "Maria è una persona che ti mette ansia" . – Zab Zonk Apr 15 '21 at 11:33
  • I agree, "ansiogeno" is mainly used as a specialized/technical terms in the fields of psychology and psychiatry and sometimes is (mis)used during conversations with people with whom you have a strong familiarity, if you want to suggest s/he is being a pain in the... neck (think of a kid continuously asking "are we there, yet?", during a car trip or of someone questioning a decision you took by asking about all possible things which could go wrong). – secan Apr 15 '21 at 12:58
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    It might be a matter of mileu: I am quite used to ansiogeno used in colloquial speech (sometimes with the added humorous effect of using a highly specialized word in an informal context). – Denis Nardin Apr 15 '21 at 13:47