fearful

[feer-fuhl]

See more synonyms for fearful on Thesaurus.com

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.

Origin of fearful

First recorded in 1300–50, fearful is from the Middle English word ferful. See fear, -ful

Related formsfear·ful·ly, adverbfear·ful·ness, nouno·ver·fear·ful, adjectiveo·ver·fear·ful·ly, adverbo·ver·fear·ful·ness, nounpre·fear·ful, adjectivepre·fear·ful·ly, adverbun·fear·ful, adjectiveun·fear·ful·ly, adverbun·fear·ful·ness, noun

Can be confusedfearful fearsome

Synonyms for fearful

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2. afraid, timid, timorous, apprehensive, uneasy, distrustful; solicitous, anxious, concerned, worried.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for fearfully

nervously, timidly, apprehensively, diffidently, shyly, awfully, excessively, frightfully

Examples from the Web for fearfully

Contemporary Examples of fearfully

He is vividly, fearfully aware of how much worse things might get than the rotten, tottering system he upholds.
Daenerys Goes to Washington: The Modern Politics of ‘Game of Thrones’
Jedediah Purdy
April 8, 2014
In a world screaming at us to lean in, we fearfully crave the experience of leaning out.
Dave Eggers, Arcade Fire and Other Hipsters Shun the Internet
James Poulos
September 22, 2013
Equally inevitable, Israel is responding, fearfully, with bullets.
Israel: No Peace in Sight
Leslie H. Gelb
May 16, 2011

Historical Examples of fearfully

"It's fearfully hard work, of course," he commented, when she had finished.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
They were fearfully bad, and my face must have shown the impression they made.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
All too fearfully I divined their preposterous significance.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
Yea, he would curse them bitterly, and swore most fearfully what he would do to them when he found them.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude
Reluctantly, fearfully, distrustfully, Glory paid her guinea and left her address.
The Christian
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for fearfully

fearfully

adverb

in a fearful manner
(intensifier)you're fearfully kind

fearful

adjective

having fear; afraid
causing fear; frightening
informal very unpleasant or annoyinga fearful cold

Derived Formsfearfulness, 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

Word Origin and History for fearfully

fearful

adj.

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.