fear

¹

[ feer ]

noun

1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

   Synonyms: qualm, trepidation, horror, panic, fright, terror, dread, dismay, consternation, apprehension, foreboding

   Antonyms: intrepidity, calm, security, courage

2. a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling:

   an abnormal fear of heights.

   Synonyms: bête noire, aversion, phobia, bugbear, bogey, bogy

   Antonyms: predilection, penchant, fondness, liking

3. concern or anxiety; solicitude:

   a fear for someone's safety.

4. reverential awe, especially toward God:

   the fear of God.

   Synonyms: veneration, reverence, respect, awe

5. something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something a person is afraid of:

   Cancer is a common fear.

6. anticipation of the possibility that something unpleasant will occur:

   Having grown up during the Great Depression, he had a constant fear of running out of money.

verb (used with object)

1. to regard with fear; be afraid of.

   Synonyms: dread, apprehend

2. to have reverential awe of.

   Synonyms: honor, venerate, revere

3. to consider or anticipate (something unpleasant) with a feeling of dread or alarm:

   It's about to snow again, I fear.

4. Archaic. to experience fear in (oneself):

   I fear me he will ne'er forgive us.

verb (used without object)

1. to have fear; be afraid:

   I'll go with you, so do not fear!

2. to feel apprehensive or uneasy (usually followed by for ):

   In this time of economic instability, I fear for my children's future.

Fear

²

[ feer ]

noun

1. a river in SE North Carolina. 202 miles (325 km) long.
2. Cape, a cape at its mouth.

fear

/ fɪə /

noun

1. a feeling of distress, apprehension, or alarm caused by impending danger, pain, etc
2. a cause of this feeling
3. awe; reverence

   fear of God

4. concern; anxiety
5. possibility; chance

   there is no fear of that happening

6. for fear of or for fear that or for fear lest
   to forestall or avoid
7. no fear
   certainly not
8. put the fear of God into
   to frighten

verb

1. to be afraid (to do something) or of (a person or thing); dread
2. tr to revere; respect
3. tr; takes a clause as object to be sorry: used to lessen the effect of an unpleasant statement

   I fear that you have not won

4. intrfoll byfor to feel anxiety about something
5. an archaic word for frighten

Derived Forms

• ˈfearlessly, adverb
• ˈfearlessness, noun
• ˈfearer, noun
• ˈfearless, adjective

Other Words From

• self-fearing adjective
• un·fearing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fear¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English fere, Old English fær “sudden attack or danger”; cognate with Old Saxon fār “ambush,” Dutch gevaar, German Gefahr “danger,” Old Norse fār “disaster”

Word History and Origins

Origin of fear¹

Old English fǣr ; related to Old High German fāra , Old Norse fār hostility, Latin perīculum danger

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. for fear of / that, in order to prevent or avoid the risk of:

   She is afraid to say anything for fear of the consequences.

2. put the fear of God in / into, to cause to be greatly afraid.

More idioms and phrases containing fear

see fools rush in where angels fear to tread ; for fear of ; never fear ; put the fear of god in .

Synonym Study

Fear, alarm, dread all imply a painful emotion experienced when one is confronted by threatening danger or evil. Alarm implies an agitation of the feelings caused by awakening to imminent danger; it names a feeling of fright or panic: He started up in alarm. Fear and dread usually refer more to a condition or state than to an event. Fear is often applied to an attitude toward something, which, when experienced, will cause the sensation of fright: fear of falling. Dread suggests anticipation of something, usually a particular event, which, when experienced, will be disagreeable rather than frightening: She lives in dread of losing her money. The same is often true of fear, when used in a negative statement: She has no fear of losing her money.

Example Sentences

Across the country, fear and tension about environmental threats were boiling beneath the surface.

From Salon

His fear that white Americans were being replaced by an army of invaders who must be repelled seemed to me symptoms of a reactive white supremacy, exacerbated by worries over scarcity brought on by the radically changing environment.

From Salon

Across the country, fear and tension about environmental threats were boiling beneath the surface.

From Salon

That happening is a genuine fear for Mustafa Barghouti, a West Bank-based veteran Palestinian politician who is leader of the Palestinian National Initiative political movement.

From BBC

“We would have been able to diagnose our son much earlier if we had any clues because he was 12 when he was diagnosed. At that time I didn’t know much about autism at all and it was a very scary and stressful time for us and it was scary for him too. This show will go a very long way in helping to alleviate that fear.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• anticipate
• avoid
• dread
• expect
• foresee
• shun
• suspect
• worry