scared

American  

[skaird] / skɛərd /

adjective

1. filled with fear, terror, or dread, often suddenly; frightened; alarmed.

   The doctor provided not only physical treatment but also moral guidance for scared patients with terminal diagnoses.

   I came into college as a scared freshman and left as a confident, competent adult.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of scare.

Other Word Forms

• unscared adjective

Etymology

Origin of scared

scare ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

This summer, there was a TikTok trend in which young women posted videos of their mothers, with the caption: “I’m not scared of aging, because this is my mom at 50.”

From The Wall Street Journal

I nodded silently, too scared of this Apostle of the Occult to call forth my voice, and headed for the door.

From Literature

Humayra Ali, 29, said her family were "devastated" and heartbroken, adding: "My first thought was how scared my father must have been in that one split moment before his life was lost."

From BBC

Unfortunately, the way I acted really frightened people, although it was really just me who was scared.

From MarketWatch

“They are just scared of any type of documentation, let alone signing up their child for services, because of the repercussions,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• afraid
• anxious
• fearful
• panicked
• panicky
• startled