What does fear mean?
Fear means (uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat..
Fear
/ˈfɪə/ · noun
Meaning
(uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat..
Definitions by Sense
- (uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
- (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular.
- (countable) Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear.
- (uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
- (UK, with definite article, "the fear") A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.
- (transitive) To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm.
- (intransitive) To feel fear.
- (intransitive) To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for [with for].
Example Sentences
He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.
Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
Not everybody has the same fears.
I have a fear of ants.
Spiders are my greatest fear.
The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome.
Synonyms for fear
Antonyms for fear
Related Words
Word Forms
- fears
- fearing
- feared
- more fear
- most fear
- feer
Usage Notes
Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.
Practice and Learn More
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a synonym for fear?
Common synonyms include fear, afraidness, be afraid of, be frightened of.
What is the opposite of fear?
Possible antonyms include courage, belittle, contemn, bravery.
How do you use fear in a sentence?
He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.