fearful
Americanadjective
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causing or apt to cause fear; frightening.
a fearful apparition.
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feeling fear, dread, apprehension, or solicitude.
fearful for his life.
- Synonyms:
- worried, concerned, anxious, solicitous, distrustful, uneasy, apprehensive, timorous, timid, afraid
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full of awe or reverence.
fearful of the Lord.
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showing or caused by fear.
fearful behavior exhibited by dogs in the animal shelter.
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extreme in size, intensity, or badness: fearful poverty.
a fearful head cold;
fearful poverty.
adjective
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having fear; afraid
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causing fear; frightening
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informal very unpleasant or annoying
a fearful cold
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fearful
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ferful(l); see origin at fear, -ful
Explanation
If you're fearful, you're afraid of something. A kid who's fearful around dogs might cry or run away when sees even a small puppy. To be fearful is, literally, to be full of fear. You can also use this adjective to describe the thing that scares you: "I lay awake all night listening to the fearful creaks of the old house around me." Some people are always fearful — it's just part of who they are — while others are only fearful in certain instances. You might be fearful on airplanes but fearless when riding a horse.
Vocabulary lists containing fearful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Liberated from farming and fearful of helot revolts, the Spartans developed their austere lifestyle and rigorous program of military training.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
Some see emails like this and conclude their boss could be hostile to them, leaving them fearful of losing promotion opportunities or worse.
From Salon • May 25, 2026
Cubs in particular can become less fearful and develop a taste for farmed produce and common fruits such as persimmon.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
Other families split up by deportations to Somalia were also fearful of going on the record - often too traumatised.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
He was ever fearful of what lay in the shadows, and that ever-present dread, combined with his constant tilting at windmills, exhausted him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
