fear definition | Dictionary.com

fear

[feer]

–noun

1.	a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

2.	a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.

3.	concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.

4.	reverential awe, esp. toward God.

5.	that which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: Cancer is a common fear.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to regard with fear; be afraid of.

7.	to have reverential awe of.

8.	Archaic. to experience fear in (oneself).

–verb (used without object)

9.	to have fear; be afraid.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME fere, OE fær sudden attack or danger; c. OS fār ambush, D gevaar, G Gefahr danger, ON fār disaster

Synonyms:
1. apprehension, consternation, dismay, terror, fright, panic, horror, trepidation. Fear, alarm, dread all imply a painful emotion experienced when one is confronted by threatening danger or evil. Alarm implies an agitation of the feelings caused by awakening to imminent danger; it names a feeling of fright or panic: He started up in alarm. Fear and dread usually refer more to a condition or state than to an event. Fear is often applied to an attitude toward something, which, when experienced, will cause the sensation of fright: fear of falling. Dread suggests anticipation of something, usually a particular event, which, when experienced, will be disagreeable rather than frightening: She lives in dread of losing her money. The same is often true of fear, when used in a negative statement: She has no fear she'll lose her money. 6. apprehend, dread.

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Fear

[feer]

–noun

1.	a river in SE North Carolina. 202 mi. (325 km) long.

2.	Cape, a cape at its mouth.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To fear

fear (fîr)

1. A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.
2. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.
A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish.
Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.
A reason for dread or apprehension: Being alone is my greatest fear.

v. feared, fear·ing, fears

v. tr.

To be afraid or frightened of.
To be uneasy or apprehensive about: feared the test results.
To be in awe of; revere.
To consider probable; expect: I fear you are wrong. I fear I have bad news for you.
Archaic To feel fear within (oneself).

v. intr.

To be afraid.
To be uneasy or apprehensive.

[Middle English fer, from Old English fǣr, danger, sudden calamity; see per-³ in Indo-European roots.]
fear'er n.

Synonyms: These nouns denote the agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. Fear is the most general term: "Fear is the parent of cruelty" (J.A. Froude).
Fright is sudden, usually momentary, great fear: In my fright, I forgot to lock the door.
Dread is strong fear, especially of what one is powerless to avoid: His dread of strangers kept him from socializing.
Terror is intense, overpowering fear: "And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror" (Edgar Allan Poe).
Horror is a combination of fear and aversion or repugnance: Murder arouses widespread horror.
Panic is sudden frantic fear, often groundless: The fire caused a panic among the horses.
Alarm is fright aroused by the first realization of danger: I watched with alarm as the sky darkened.
Dismay robs one of courage or the power to act effectively: The rumor of war caused universal dismay.
Consternation is often paralyzing, characterized by confusion and helplessness: Consternation gripped the city as the invaders approached.
Trepidation is dread characteristically marked by trembling or hesitancy: "They were ... full of trepidation about things that were never likely to happen" (John Morley).

Word History: Old English fǣr, the ancestor of our word fear, meant "calamity, disaster," but not the emotion engendered by such an event. This is in line with the meaning of the prehistoric Common Germanic word *fēraz, "danger," which is the source of words with similar senses in other Germanic languages, such as Old Saxon and Old High German fār, "ambush, danger," and Old Icelandic fār, "treachery, damage." Scholars have determined the form and meaning of Germanic *fēraz by working backward from the forms and the meanings of its descendants. The most important cause of the change of meaning in the word fear was probably the existence in Old English of the related verb fǣran, which meant "to terrify, take by surprise." Fear is first recorded in Middle English with the sense "emotion of fear" in a work composed around 1290.

Fear (fîr)

A promontory on Smith Island off the coast of southeast North Carolina at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Fear

Fear\, n. A variant of Fere, a mate, a companion. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Fear

Fear\, n. [OE. fer, feer, fere, AS. f?r a coming suddenly upon, fear, danger; akin to D. vaar, OHG. f[=a]ra danger, G. gefahr, Icel. f[=a]r harm, mischief, plague, and to E. fare, peril. See Fare.]

1. A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; apprehension; anxiety; solicitude; alarm; dread.

Note: The degrees of this passion, beginning with the most moderate, may be thus expressed, -- apprehension, fear, dread, fright, terror.

Fear is an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of future evil likely to befall us. --Locke.

Where no hope is left, is left no fear. --Milton.

2. (Script.) (a) Apprehension of incurring, or solicitude to avoid, God's wrath; the trembling and awful reverence felt toward the Supreme Belng. (b) Respectful reverence for men of authority or worth.

I will put my fear in their hearts. --Jer. xxxii. 40.

I will teach you the fear of the Lord. --Ps. xxxiv. 11.

render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due . . . fear to whom fear. --Rom. xiii. 7.

3. That which causes, or which is the object of, apprehension or alarm; source or occasion of terror; danger; dreadfulness.

There were they in great fear, where no fear was. --Ps. liii. 5.

The fear of your adventure would counsel you to a more equal enterprise. --Shak.

For fear, in apprehension lest. "For fear you ne'er see chain nor money more." --Shak.

Fear

Fear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Feared; p. pr. & vb. n. Fearing.] [OE. feren, faeren, to frighten, to be afraid, AS. f?ran to terrify. See Fear, n.]

1. To feel a painful apprehension of; to be afraid of; to consider or expect with emotion of alarm or solicitude.

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. --Ps. xxiii. 4.

Note: With subordinate clause.

I greatly fear my money is not safe. --Shak.

I almost fear to quit your hand. --D. Jerrold.

2. To have a reverential awe of; to solicitous to avoid the displeasure of.

Leave them to God above; him serve and fear. --Milton.

3. To be anxious or solicitous for. [R.]

The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children, therefore . . . I fear you. --Shak.

4. To suspect; to doubt. [Obs.]

Ay what else, fear you not her courage? --Shak.

5. To affright; to terrify; to drive away or prevent approach of by fear. [Obs.]

fear their people from doing evil. --Robynsin (More's utopia).

Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs. --Shak.

Syn: To apprehend; dread; reverence; venerate.

Fear

Fear\, v. i. To be in apprehension of evil; to be afraid; to feel anxiety on account of some expected evil.

I exceedingly fear and quake. --Heb. xii. 21.

Language Translation for : fear

Spanish: miedo, temor,

German: die Furcht,

Japanese: 恐れ

More Translations »

fear (n.)

O.E. fær "danger, peril," from P.Gmc. *færa (cf. O.S. far "ambush," O.N. far "harm, distress, deception," Ger. Gefahr "danger"), from PIE base *per- "to try, risk, come over, go through" (perhaps connected with Gk. peira "trial, attempt, experience," L. periculum "trial, risk, danger"). Sense of "uneasiness caused by possible danger" developed c.1175. The v. is from O.E. færan "terrify, frighten," originally transitive (sense preserved in archaic I fear me). Sense of "feel fear" is 1393. O.E. words for "fear" as we now use it were ege, fyrhto; as a verb, ondrædan. Fearsome is attested from 1768.

Main Entry: fear
Pronunciation: 'fi(&)r
Function: noun
1 : an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger andaccompanied by increased autonomic activity
2 : an instance of fear fear of physical pain —H.W. VanLoon> —fear verb

fear (fēr)
n.
A feeling of agitation and dread caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

fear

see fools rush in where angels fear to tread; for fear of; never fear; put the fear of god in.

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