<p>To determine the relationship between subthreshold anxiety disorder and dry eye disease (DED) symptoms and signs. This was a cross-sectional study. The 127 outpatients of DED were collected and assessed for related symptoms and signs via the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), strip meniscometry (SM), non-invasive breakup time (NIBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), total corneal fluorescein staining (tCFS), and meibomian gland function (MGD) score. Subthreshold and full-blown anxiety disorders were evaluated via the HADS-A questionnaire and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I). The OSDI were markedly higher in patients with subthreshold anxiety relative to mental healthy patients (<i>p =</i> 0.029); however, these scores were lower than in the full-blown anxiety patients (<i>p =</i> 0.016). TMH and SM were substantially lower than those in the mental healthy patients (<i>p =</i> 0.002, <i>p =</i> 0.004, respectively) but higher than the full-blown anxiety cohort (<i>p =</i> 0.026, <i>p =</i> 0.029, respectively). HADS-A scores in the subthreshold, full-blown indicated a significant positive correlation with OSDI (<i>r</i> = 0.786, <i>p &lt;</i> 0.001; <i>r</i> = 0.787, <i>p &lt;</i> 0.001; respectively). Significant correlations were found between <b>s</b>ubthreshold anxiety disorder and DED symptoms and signs; however, its intensity is lower than full-blown anxiety disorders.</p>