fear — OAT · Shobdo

fear

noun

1 she felt fear at entering the house:

terror, fright, fearfulness, horror, alarm, panic, agitation, trepidation, dread, consternation, dismay, distress;

anxiety, worry, angst, unease, uneasiness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, nervousness, nerves, timidity, disquiet, disquietude, discomposure, unrest, perturbation, foreboding, misgiving, doubt, suspicion;

informal the creeps, the willies, the heebie-jeebies, the shakes, the collywobbles, jitteriness, twitchiness, butterflies (in the stomach);

British, informal funk, blue funk, the (screaming) abdabs;

Australian, rhyming slang the Joe Blakes;

North American, archaic worriment;

rare inquietude.

▷antonyms calmness; confidence.

2 she sought help to overcome her fears:

phobia, aversion, antipathy, dread, bugbear, bogey, nightmare, horror, terror;

anxiety, neurosis, complex, mania;

abnormal fear, irrational fear, obsessive fear;

French bête noire;

informal hang-up.

3 archaic the fear of God:

awe, wonder, wonderment, amazement;

reverence, veneration, respect;

dread.

▷antonyms indifference.

4 there's no fear of me leaving you alone:

likelihood, likeliness, prospect, possibility, chance, odds, probability, expectation, conceivability, feasibility, plausibility;

risk, danger.

verb

1 I feared the bullies who taunted me:

be afraid of, be fearful of, be scared of, be apprehensive of, dread, live in fear of, go in terror of, be terrified of, be terrified by, cower before, tremble before, cringe from, shrink from, flinch from;

be anxious about, worry about, panic about, feel consternation about, have forebodings about, feel apprehensive about;

British, informal be in a blue funk about.

2 he fears heights and open spaces:

have a phobia about, have a horror of, have a dread of, shudder at, take fright at.

3 he feared to let them know he was awake:

be too afraid, be too scared, be too apprehensive, hesitate;

dare not;

informal have cold feet about.

4 they all feared for his health:

worry about, feel anxious/concerned about, have anxieties about, have qualms about, feel disquiet for, be solicitous for.

5 archaic all who fear the Lord:

stand in awe of, regard with awe, revere, reverence, venerate, respect;

dread, be intimidated by.

6 I fear that you may be right:

suspect, have a (sneaking) suspicion, have a (sneaking) feeling, feel, be inclined to think, be afraid, have a foreboding, have a hunch, think it likely, be of the opinion, suppose, reckon.

word links	fear
-phobia suffix meaning ‘fear of something’, as in claustrophobia phobophobia fear of fear