fearful

[ feer-fuhl ]
See synonyms for: fearfulfearfullyfearfulness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. causing or apt to cause fear; frightening: a fearful apparition.

  2. feeling fear, dread, apprehension, or solicitude: fearful for his life.

  1. full of awe or reverence: fearful of the Lord.

  2. showing or caused by fear: fearful behavior exhibited by dogs in the animal shelter.

  3. extreme in size, intensity, or badness: a fearful head cold; fearful poverty.

Origin of fearful

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ferful(l); see origin at fear, -ful

Other words for fearful

Other words from fearful

  • fear·ful·ly, adverb
  • fear·ful·ness, noun
  • un·fear·ful, adjective

Words that may be confused with fearful

Words Nearby fearful

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fearful in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fearful

fearful

/ (ˈfɪəfʊl) /


adjective
  1. having fear; afraid

  2. causing fear; frightening

  1. informal very unpleasant or annoying: a fearful cold

Derived forms of fearful

  • fearfulness, noun

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