A word for someone who is overly cautious?

Question

I am thinking along the lines of a hypochondriac, only not necessarily limited to health.

"Overly anxious" comes to mind but I don't think it fits exactly...

In context:

'I don't want to come across as being a XXXX but I am concerned that it will get damaged'

I need it to sound more formal than just slang.

When I read your example sentence, the first words I thought of were "overly cautious." It's a widespread term. Any reason why you don't want to go with the alternative in your title? — J.R., Aug 30 '12 at 00:52
Some research has not thrown up any satisfactory answers yet. Maybe there's a point in the OP's question. Not voting to close. — Kris, Oct 03 '12 at 14:03

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

4

There are numerous slang terms for this including:

nervous nellie

wuss

wimp

chicken

doormat

handwringer

worrywart

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

answered Aug 29 '12 at 23:42

bib

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 30 '12 at 00:43

Doomsayer is a bit poetic/antiquated, but could pass in a "formal" context.

Scaremonger is just a little bit informal (but nothing like wuss, wimp, etc.)

If I didn't want to push the envelope with doomsayer, I'd probably use pessimist, alarmist, fatalist, dependant on exact context.

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 30 '12 at 00:09

2

A worrier is someone who worries a lot about bad things that might happen.

answered Aug 30 '12 at 00:09

3 Answers3