feeling fear; frightened; apprehensive: followed by of, that, or an infinitive: often used informally to indicate regret: I'm afraid I can't go
Origin of afraid
Middle English affraied, past participle of affraien, affray
This person is afraid.
- The experience of hearing an unfamiliar noise in the middle of the night is an example of afraid.
- The feeling someone gets when realizing they can't pay their mortgage is an example of afraid.
The definition of afraid is to be filled with fear or regret.
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afraid
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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afraid
adjective
- Filled with fear; frightened: afraid of ghosts; afraid to die; afraid for his life.
- Having feelings of aversion or unwillingness in regard to something: not afraid of hard work; afraid to show emotion.
- Filled with regret or concern. Used especially to soften an unpleasant statement: I'm afraid you're wrong.
Origin of afraid
Middle English affraied past participle of affraien to frighten from Old French esfraier, esfreer to disturb of Germanic origin ; see prī- in Indo-European roots.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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afraid
afraid apprehensive fearful
These adjectives mean full of or given to fear: afraid of snakes; feeling apprehensive before surgery; fearful of criticism.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Adjective
(comparative more afraid, superlative most afraid)
- (usually used predicatively, not attributively) Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
- He is afraid of death.
- He is afraid to die.
- He is afraid that he will die.
- (colloquial) regretful, sorry
- I am afraid I can not help you in this matter.
Usage notes
- (Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive): Afraid expresses a lesser degree of fear than terrified or frightened. It is often followed by the preposition of and the object of fear, or by an infinitive, or by a dependent clause, as shown in the examples above.
Origin
From Middle English affrayed, affraied, past participle of afraien (“to affray”), from Anglo-Norman afrayer (“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”), from Old French effreer, esfreer (“to disturb, remove the peace from”), from es- (“ex-”) + freer (“to secure, secure the peace”), from Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *prāy-, *prēy- (“to like, love”). Compare also afeard. More at free, friend.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"Afraid." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Afraid.
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Afraid. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Afraid
