Fear definition
Being alone is my greatest fear.
A boy who fears spiders.
A fear of looking foolish.
We all feared what we would see when the grades were posted.
Your injury is minor. Don't fear.
I fear you are wrong. I fear I have bad news for you.
I fear I am late.
We fear for the future of the business.
A fear that it will rain.
An example of fear is for a child to be scared of getting a shot.
An example of fear is the feeling felt in a haunted house.
Our fears intensified as the storm approached.
Living in constant fear of attack; saved as much as he could for fear of losing his job.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, The Celebrity.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.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, The China Governess.‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?’.
He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.
I fear [regret that] I have bad news for you: your husband has died.
I fear the worst will happen.
I fear for their safety.
There was no fear of difficulty.
- in order to avoid or prevent; lest
Alternative Forms
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of fear
- Middle English fer from Old English fǣr danger, sudden calamity per-3 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English feer, fere, fer, from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fērą (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to attempt, try, research, risk”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, risk, hazard”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”), Albanian frikë (“fear,danger”).
From Wiktionary
- From Middle English fere, feore, from Old English fēre (“able to go, fit for service”), from Proto-Germanic *fōriz, *fōrijaz (“passable”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to put across, ferry”). Cognate with Scots fere, feir (“well, active, sound”), Middle High German gevüere (“able, capable, fit, serviceable”), Swedish för (“capable, able, stout”), Icelandic færr (“able”). Related to fare.
From Wiktionary
- From Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran (“to frighten, raven”), from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”). See above.
From Wiktionary