The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word SWEATED
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
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More clues leading to the result SWEATED
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "was anxious" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case was anxious = sweated.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does SWEATED mean?
SWEATED verb- To emit sweat.
- To cause to excrete moisture through skin.
- To work hard.
- To extract money, labour, etc. from, by exaction or oppression.
- To worry.
- To worry about (something).
- To emit, in the manner of sweat.
- To emit moisture.
- To solder (a pipe joint) together.
- To stress out.
- To cook slowly at low heat, in shallow oil and without browning, to reduce moisture content.
- To remove a portion of (a coin), as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal.
- To suffer a penalty; to smart for one's misdeeds.
- To scrape the sweat from (a horse).
- Characterized by sweatshop conditions.