fearful
[ feer-fuhl ]
/ ˈfɪər fəl /
adjective
causing or apt to cause fear; frightening: a fearful apparition.
feeling fear, dread, apprehension, or solicitude: fearful for his life; fearful lest he commit suicide.
full of awe or reverence: fearful of the Lord.
showing or caused by fear: fearful behavior.
extreme in size, intensity, or badness: a fearful head cold; fearful poverty.
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RELATED WORDS
shy, timid, afraid, hesitant, nervous, scared, anxious, uneasy, tense, agitated, jittery, frightened, skittish, panicky, aghast, chicken, diffident, disturbed, fainthearted, intimidated
Nearby words
- fe.,
- feal,
- fealty,
- fear,
- feared,
- fearfully,
- fearless,
- fearlessly,
- fearnought,
- fearsome
Origin of fearful
SYNONYMS FOR fearful
2. afraid, timid, timorous, apprehensive, uneasy, distrustful; solicitous, anxious, concerned, worried.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for fearful
fearful
/ (ˈfɪəfʊl) /
adjective
having fear; afraid
causing fear; frightening
informal very unpleasant or annoyinga fearful cold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
fearful
mid-14c., "causing fear," from fear + -ful. Meaning "full of fear, timid" (now less common) also is from mid-14c. As a mere emphatic, from 1630s. Related: Fearfully; fearfulness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper