FEAR

fear, fearfulness, fright

(noun) an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)

fear, reverence, awe, veneration

(noun) a feeling of profound respect for someone or something; “the fear of God”; “the Chinese reverence for the dead”; “the French treat food with gentle reverence”; “his respect for the law bordered on veneration”

concern, care, fear

(noun) an anxious feeling; “care had aged him”; “they hushed it up out of fear of public reaction”

reverence, fear, revere, venerate

(verb) regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of; “Fear God as your father”; “We venerate genius”

fear, dread

(verb) be afraid or scared of; be frightened of; “I fear the winters in Moscow”; “We should not fear the Communists!”

fear

(verb) be sorry; used to introduce an unpleasant statement; “I fear I won’t make it to your wedding party”

fear

(verb) be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event; “I fear she might get aggressive”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)

(uncountable) A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.

(countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone.

(uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.

Synonyms

• (an emotion caused by actual or perceived danger; a sense of fear induced by something or someone): See fear

• (terrified veneration): dread

Verb

fear (third-person singular simple present fears, present participle fearing, simple past and past participle feared)

(transitive) To feel fear about (something or someone); to be afraid of; to consider or expect with alarm.

(intransitive) To feel fear (about something).

(intransitive, used with for) To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for.

(transitive) To venerate; to feel awe towards.

(transitive) To regret.

(obsolete, transitive) To cause fear to; to frighten.

(obsolete, transitive) To be anxious or solicitous for.

(obsolete, transitive) To suspect; to doubt.

Synonyms

• (feel fear about (something)): be afraid of, be frightened of, be scared of, be terrorised/terrorized

• (venerate; to feel awe towards): be in awe of, revere, venerate

Antonyms

• (venerate; to feel awe towards): belittle, contemn

Etymology 2

Adjective

fear (comparative more fear, superlative most fear)

(dialectal) Able; capable; stout; strong; sound.

Anagrams

• FERA, Fera, Rafe, fare, reaf

Proper noun

Fear (plural Fears)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Fear is the 18502nd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1493 individuals. Fear is most common among White (94.57%) individuals.

Anagrams

• FERA, Fera, Rafe, fare, reaf

Source: Wiktionary


Fear, n.

Definition: A variant of Fere, a mate, a companion. [Obs.] Spenser.

Fear, n. Etym: [OE. fer, feer, fere, AS. f a coming suddenly upon, fear, danger; akin to D. vaar, OHG. fara danger, G. gefahr, Icel. far harm, mischief, plague, and to E. fare, peril. See Fare.]

1. A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; apprehension; anxiety; solicitude; alarm; dread.

Note: The degrees of this passion, beginning with the most moderate, may be thus expressed, -- apprehension, fear, dread, fright, terror. Fear is an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of future evil likely to befall us. Locke. Where no hope is left, is left no fear. Milton.

2. (Script.) (a) Apprehension of incurring, or solicitude to avoid, God's wrath; the trembling and awful reverence felt toward the Supreme Belng. (b) Respectful reverence for men of authority or worth. I will put my fear in their hearts. Jer. xxxii. 40. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Ps. xxxiv. 11. render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due . . . fear to whom fear. Rom. xiii. 7.

3. That which causes, or which is the object of, apprehension or alarm; source or occasion of terror; danger; dreadfulness. There were they in great fear, where no fear was. Ps. liii. 5. The fear of your adventure would counsel you to a more equal enterprise. Shak. For fear, in apprehension lest. "For fear you ne'er see chain nor money more." Shak.

Fear, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feared; p. pr. & vb. n. Fearing.] Etym: [OE. feren, faeren, to frighten, to be afraid, AS. fFear, n.]

1. To feel a painful apprehension of; to be afraid of; to consider or expect with emotion of alarm or solicitude. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Ps. xxiii. 4.

Note: With subordinate clause. I greatly fear my money is not safe. Shak. I almost fear to quit your hand. D. Jerrold.

2. To have a reverential awe of; to solicitous to avoid the displeasure of. Leave them to God above; him serve and fear. Milton.

3. To be anxious or solicitous for. [R.] The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children, therefore . . . I fear you. Shak.

4. To suspect; to doubt. [Obs.] Ay what else, fear you not her courage Shak.

5. To affright; to terrify; to drive away or prevent approach of by fear. z2 fera their people from doing evil. Robynsin (More's utopia). Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs. Shak.

Syn.

– To apprehend; drad; reverence; venerate.

Fear, v. i.

Definition: To be in apprehension of evil; to be afraid; to feel anxiety on account of some expected evil. I exceedingly fear and quake. Heb. xii. 21.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

18 April 2024

MOTIVE

(adjective) impelling to action; “it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function”- Arthur Pap; “motive pleas”; “motivating arguments”


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