# afraid
## English
### Alternative forms

* affrayed (obsolete)
* 'fraid (aphetic)

### Etymology

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- (“out”) +‎ 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”). By surface analysis, affray +‎ -ed. Compare also afeard. More at free, friend.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /əˈfɹeɪd/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪd

### Adjective

afraid (comparative more afraid, superlative most afraid) (predicative)
* Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
    Synonyms: afeared, alarmed, anxious, apprehensive, fearful, timid, timorous; see also Thesaurus:afraid
    He is afraid of death.
    He is afraid to ask her out.
    He is afraid of the future.
** 1964, Harry S. Truman, 2:28 from the start, in MP2002-77 Former President Truman Discusses Bigotry in the United States‎, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162:I went through the worst Ku Klux proposition in the country at the time it was at its height. And I had to go down to the Ku Klux meeting and tell them what I thought of them, and I wasn't afraid of them at all. And I'm not afraid of this situation because I think it'll work out in a way that when these people sit down and get a chance to think and study the situation, they're going to be ashamed of some of the things they've done.
* (colloquial) Regretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.
    Synonym: sorry
    I am afraid I cannot help you in this matter.
* (used with for) Worried about, feeling concern for, fearing for (someone or something).

#### Usage notes

* 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.

#### Derived terms

* afraidly
* afraidness
* afraid of one's own shadow
* fraidy
* I am afraid of this
* I'm afraid not
* I'm afraid so
* unafraid
* unafraidly

#### Related terms

* afear
* afeared
* affray
* fray

#### Translations
### See also

* fear

## Welsh
### Etymology

af- (“un-”) +‎ rhaid (“necessity”)

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈavrai̯d/

### Adjective

afraid (feminine singular afraid, plural afraid, equative afreidied, comparative afreidiach, superlative afreidiaf)
* unnecessary, unessential
** c. 1500, Ieuan Tew, poem in Cwrt Mawr manuscript no. 5, published and translated 1921 by T. Gwynn Jones, “Cultural Bases. A Study of the Tudor Period in Wales”, Y Cymmrodor. The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, vol. 31, page 182:
    mogelwch yma golyn a fo goeg, ag afu gwyn— a choegddyn crin, ledryn crach, o fradwr—nid afreidiach;beware of the sting of white-livered wretches, and every withered, niggardly wretch of a traitor—it were not less necessary;
** c. 1600, Edmwnd Prys, quoted in A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative by J. Morris Jones, Oxford: 1913, p. 44:
    Amlwg fydd trŵyn a’r wyneb; Afraid i ni nodi neb.Plain is the nose on a face; it is unnecessary for us to mention anyone.
    Synonyms: diangen, dianghenraid

### Noun

afraid m (plural afreidiau)
* superfluity, extravagance

#### Derived terms

* afreidiol (“superfluous”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “afraid”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies