fear
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English feer, fere, fer (“fear”), from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fērō, *fērą (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through, carry forth, try”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, hazard, risk”), Danish fare (“danger, hazard, risk”), Faroese and Icelandic fár (“accident, anger, calamity”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk fare (“danger”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”), Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, experiment”), Armenian փորձ (pʻorj, “attempt”). Doublet of peril.
The verb is from Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran (“to frighten, raven”), from the noun. Cognate with the archaic Dutch verb varen (“to fear, to cause fear”).
Inflected forms:
form: fears
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: fears
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: fearing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: feared
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: feared
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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.
gloss: A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Not everybody has the same fears.
I have a fear of ants.
gloss: Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Spiders are my greatest fear.
gloss: Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome.
That sacred dread of all offence to him, which is called the Fear of God.
gloss: A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.
pos: noun
tags: UK
countable
uncountable
with-definite-article
examples: Her feeling of humiliation had intensified as the day had gone on and her hangover had worsened. She now also had 'the fear' to contend with, […]
He had the fear, that feeling of dread that you've done something really embarrassing. The fear was a hundred times worse than the hangover. No, a thousand times worse.
gloss: To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I fear the worst will happen.
I greatly fear my money is not safe.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools[…]as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
gloss: To feel fear.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Never fear; help is always near.
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
gloss: To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for [with for].
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: She fears for her son’s safety.
gloss: To venerate; to feel awe towards.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: People who fear God can be found in Christian churches.
gloss: To regret.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I fear I have bad news for you: your husband has died.
gloss: To cause fear to; to frighten.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Thenne the knyghte sayd to syre Gawayn / bynde thy wounde or thy blee chaunge / for thou bybledest al thy hors and thy fayre armes /[…]/ For who someuer is hurte with this blade he shalle neuer be staunched of bledynge / Thenne ansuerd gawayn hit greueth me but lytyl / thy grete wordes shalle not feare me ne lasse my courage
Ythrild with deepe disdaine of his proud threat,
She shortly thus; Fly they, that need to fly;
Wordes fearen babes.
Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.
We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape, till custom make it
Their perch and not their terror.
gloss: To be anxious or solicitous for.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Fearst thou thy person? thou shalt haue a guard:
The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children: therefore, I promise ye, I fear you.
gloss: To suspect; to doubt.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Fear you not her courage?
Synonyms: fear
afraidness
Antonyms: courage
belittle
contemn
Related words: have one's heart in one's boots
intimidation
one's heart in one's mouth
one's heart in one's throat
sinking feeling
terrorism
afraid
cowardly
shy
Derived words: affear
antifear
fear campaign
fearfest
fearful
fear gortha
fearless
fearlike
fearmonger
fear monger
fearnaught
fear of missing out
fearscape
fearsome
fearthought
for fear of
for fear that
geometry of fear
have no fear of ice cold beer
microfear
nightfear
night-fear
night fear
no fear
overfear
put the fear of God into
rub the fear of God into
snake fear
stage fear
strike fear
technofear
unfear
water fear
water-fear
without fear or favour
Allah-fearing
fearable
fearer
fear not
fools rush in where angels fear to tread
God-fearing
gods-fearing
I fear
never fear
water-fearing
Translations: