3

Is there a word to describe the emotional state of being simultaneously excited about the prospect of something and dreading the prospect of it not happening? The closest thing I can think of is "disappointment" but I don't think that covers a future tense hypothetical.

The use of the word would be something like:

"I am excited because I think they're going to offer me the job but I'm worried that they won't."

Would transform to:

I am (word or phrase) about the job offer.

David
  • 12,625
Wesley Obenshain
  • 131
  • 4
  • Welcome to ELU! Can you provide an example sentence of how you may use the word? Also, what research have you done to find the word? Have any words come close? If so, why were they not a good fit? Please provide more information. – Hank Jul 05 '17 at 15:08
  • 1
    The number of different words that can be used to describe the emotions involved makes it difficult to actually do any sort of keyword search. I actually don't have a lot of hope that there is a phrase, let alone a single-word, that covers this in English but I figured I'd ask.

    I've added some clarification, including an example, though.

     – Wesley Obenshain Jul 05 '17 at 15:15
  • 1
    Related: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/283046/what-is-one-word-for-the-nervous-excitement-associated-with-new-things – Hank Jul 05 '17 at 15:16
  • @Hank Looking over that I would say I'm looking for a word or phrase that describes anticipating two things that are opposite. "Anxious anticipation" is pretty close, actually. – Wesley Obenshain Jul 05 '17 at 15:21
  • The Butterflies answer seemed to cover both sensations. – Hank Jul 05 '17 at 15:22
  • Anxious can mean yeah, yeah and oh, no. – Yosef Baskin Jul 05 '17 at 15:23
  • The word "ambivalence" comes to mind, and it would be perfect if it meant simply that you have two primary emotions in your mind at the same time. It does not mean that, however. Ambivalence is associated with two CONFLICTING emotions which are battling in your psyche at the same time. I doubt there is a single word to express what you are after. "Mixed emotions" could work, but again, when we think of mixed emotions we (I) think of conflicting emotions which pull us in opposite directions (e.g., yes or no, red or green, buy or not to buy, love or not love, anticipation or dread). – rhetorician Jul 05 '17 at 15:52
  • I edited your title. Your to you're (you are). – David Jul 05 '17 at 19:56

2 Answers2

7

You are on tenterhooks about the job offer.

OED

to be on (the) tenterhooks: i.e. in a state of painful suspense or impatience:

Worldwidewords.org explains further

It comes from one of the processes of making woollen cloth. After it had been woven, the cloth still contained oil from the fleece, mixed with dirt. It was cleaned in a fulling mill, but then it had to be dried carefully or it would shrink and crease. So the lengths of wet cloth were stretched on wooden frames, and left out in the open for some time. This allowed them to dry and straightened their weave. These frames were the tenters, and the tenter hooks were the metal hooks used to fix the cloth to the frame. At one time, it would have been common in manufacturing areas to see fields full of these frames (older English maps sometimes marked an area as a tenter-field). So it was not a huge leap of the imagination to think of somebody on tenterhooks as being in an state of anxious suspense, stretched like the cloth on the tenter.

Spagirl
  • 11,736
  • 31
  • 54
1

You are anxious about the job offer.

Anxious:

wanting something very much, typically with a feeling of unease.

Explanation/definition for anxious

Kace36
  • 2,427
  • 12
  • 14
  • As demonstrated in the example, anxious denotes either anticipation or avoidance but does not adequately do so at the same time. – Wesley Obenshain Jul 05 '17 at 21:53
  • How does wanting something very much, typically with a feeling of unease include anything like fearing something, much or slightly? – Robbie Goodwin Jul 12 '17 at 21:50
  • @RobbieGoodwin Apparently from all the messages I'm getting from senior members we should not be answering questions like these anyway. I still fail to see how comments help clean up the site versus "answers". There is still no clear line on what we should answer. Sigh. – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 21:51
  • @RobbieGoodwin Did someone say "fearing". I didn't see it. They said worried in the question post. It still says it now (?). wanting something very much + unease. Unease = a type of worry. But again it's not the kind of question they want us answering anyway. Apparently this guy/girl should have done his own homework instead of asking for help here? I'm at a loss about some of this. Sigh. Seems I'm getting these comments/msgs about answers we shouldn't be "answering" but rather "commenting on(?!) Oy! – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 21:55
  • Uh… Please, what messages are you getting?

    Apart from anything else very loosely, an Answer might be Black and white are not the same at all while a comment might be Are you sure this about black and white? Is there no room for grey?

    Either way, how is any kind of cleaning relevant, please?

     – Robbie Goodwin Jul 12 '17 at 21:57
  • @RobbieGoodwin No, no, not msgs from you. From some senior members/mods. Apparently these questions are not to be answered. That was my point. I'm just getting ticked off b/c I'm getting flack for answering questions instead of posting comments (which they seem to prefer). Are you a native speaker btw? Maybe I'm not being clear. I don't mean to offend. Just asking. – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 22:03
  • 1
    @ Kace36 No-one said fearing nor should they have needed to. Your search engine will tell you fearing and dreading are almost perfectly synonymous.

    Who, please, said it's not the kind of question they want answering?

    If you’re not sure about the difference between Answers and Comments, use Comments… when appropriate, people will suggest you make your Comment an Answer.

     – Robbie Goodwin Jul 12 '17 at 22:06
  • @RobbieGoodwin I think we are getting totally confused. Haha. You said "fearing" Robbie. You said it. Above. Second comment. My talks about the commenting/answering is just b/c I've gotten msgs about only answering certain types of questions. Just forget it. – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 22:10
  • 1
    @Kace36 Yes, I said fearing. I said that. I said it above. How is that confusing, please?

    I understand you've gotten messages about only answering certain types of questions and for at least the third time, what messages have you got and how do they relate to this question?

    Why is any of this difficult, please?

     – Robbie Goodwin Jul 12 '17 at 22:26
  • @RobbieGoodwin I'm saying let's drop it b/c I don't really care about this question. I was venting. I'm not sure you are understanding. My venting about the situation was separate from this issue of the answer. If you want to know about the answer please read my first comment. Anxious is the correct word. It's a feeling of excitement + a feeling of unease. Unease is a type of dread, fear, loathing, etc. It fits what the poster was asking about. The messages don't matter. They are from mods and just talking about how we should not answer simple dictionary questions. Okay? – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 22:33
  • If you really want to cop out after wasting so much time I can't stop you, and if you can find one or two people who think that's OK, do please name them.

    Next time you don't care about something, how about ignoring it? Please? Pretty please?

     – Robbie Goodwin Jul 12 '17 at 22:36
  • I'm not copping out of anything. I think there is confusion and I was not aware that English doesn't seem to be your first language. I do not mean that as an offensive thing I just feel we are wasting time b/c you don't seem to be understanding what I'm saying. That's all. I'm not being disrespectful, not trying to waste your time, nothing. I just felt we were getting nowhere. I explained why Anxious is correct. I already did that. What more could you want? @RobbieGoodwin – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 22:41
  • @RobbieGoodwin If you truly want to know more about the word anxious then look online. However I posted the exact meaning. The OP asked for something that means excited but also dreading something or worrying at the same time. Anxious = excited + feeling of unease. Unease is a type of dread, loathing, worry, etc. Now having said that maybe he didn't word his question properly. But that is what anxious means. There are surely other words too. – Kace36 Jul 12 '17 at 22:44