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Synonyms

apprehensive

American  
[ap-ri-hen-siv] / ˌæp rɪˈhɛn sɪv /

adjective

  1. uneasy or fearful about something that might happen.

    apprehensive for the safety of the mountain climbers.

  2. quick to learn or understand.

  3. perceptive; discerning (usually followed byof ).

apprehensive British  
/ ˌæprɪˈhɛnsɪv /

adjective

  1. fearful or anxious

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • apprehensively adverb
  • apprehensiveness noun
  • nonapprehensive adjective
  • overapprehensive adjective
  • overapprehensively adverb
  • overapprehensiveness noun
  • pseudoapprehensive adjective
  • pseudoapprehensively adverb
  • unapprehensive adjective
  • unapprehensively adverb
  • unapprehensiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of apprehensive

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Medieval Latin word apprehēnsīvus. See apprehensible, -ive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.