fearful
Americanadjective
-
causing or apt to cause fear; frightening.
a fearful apparition.
-
feeling fear, dread, apprehension, or solicitude.
fearful for his life.
- Synonyms:
- worried, concerned, anxious, solicitous, distrustful, uneasy, apprehensive, timorous, timid, afraid
-
full of awe or reverence.
fearful of the Lord.
-
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.
That means carry trades often perform well when markets are calm but can unwind sharply when investors become fearful.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 10, 2026
Madonna looks at a world where “no one wants to go outside,” nodding at the ways the COVID-19 pandemic broadly increased our isolation and made people more fearful of reality and each other.
From Salon • Jul. 8, 2026
“I’m fearful that we’re building unintended leverage that isn’t fully understood,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist for Nationwide’s investment management group.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
They were sufficiently fearful that they were willing to advertise their own vulnerability in the hope of diminishing the likelihood of him facing a challenge.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
But watching him in the corner that way, she started to feel very fearful of the responsibility.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
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.
