Meaning of fear in English

fear

/fɪər/ us

/fɪr/

an unpleasant emotion or thought that you have when you are frightened or worried by something dangerous, painful, or bad that is happening or might happen:

Trembling with fear, she handed over the money to the gunman.

Even when the waves grew big, the boy showed no (signs of) fear.

a fear of I have a fear of heights.

worst fear The low profit figures simply confirmed my worst fears.

[ + that ] There are fears that the disease will spread to other countries.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

fear

fearI have a dreadful fear of heights.
terrorShe fled from the attacker in terror.
dreadThe thought of giving a speech filled me with dread.
alarmI don't want to cause you any alarm, but there's a rattlesnake in the path ahead of you.
frightThe family ran from their home in fright when the earthquake struck.
panicPanic spread through the crowd when someone shouted "Fire!"

See more results »

be in fear of your life (also mainly US be in fear for your life)

to be frightened that you might be killed:

Lakisha sat inside, in fear of her life, until the police came.

be no fear of something informal

to be no possibility that a particular thing will happen:

Greta knows the city well, so there's no fear of us getting lost (= we will not get lost).

for fear that/of something

because you are worried that a particular thing might happen:

They wouldn't let their cat outside for fear that it would get run over.

More examplesFewer examples

Then he turned towards me and I was suddenly gripped by fear.
I finally mastered my fear of flying.
I was trembling with fear.
You could tell she wasn't lying from the fear in her voice.
Ten years later her worst fears were realized.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Fear & phobias

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Idioms

have fears for someone/something
no fear!
put the fear of God into you
without fear or favour

fear

verb

/fɪər/ us

/fɪr/

B2 [ T; not continuous ]

to be frightened of something or someone unpleasant:

Most older employees fear unemployment.

What do you fear most?

B2 [ T; not continuous ] formal

to be worried or frightened that something bad might happen or might have happened:

[ + (that) ] Police fear (that) the couple may have drowned.

it is feared that formal It is feared that as many as two hundred passengers may have died in the crash.

it is feared He is, it is feared, at risk of torture if he is sent back to his homeland.

We huddled together, fearing we might be killed.

[ + to infinitive ] Fearing to go herself, she sent her son to find out the news.

I fear formal mainly UK

used to give someone news of something bad that has happened or might happen:

[ + (that) ] I fear (that) she's already left.

More examplesFewer examples

He reassured people that law-abiding citizens would have nothing to fear from the enquiries.
It was feared that the break-up of the oil tanker would result in further pollution.
The police feared that the crowd were becoming disorderly and so they moved in with horses.
The committee kept the results of the survey to itself, fearing a bad public reaction.
The government fears that talking to terrorists might legitimize their violent actions.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Afraid

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Idiom

never fear

Phrasal verb

fear for someone/something

(Definition of fear from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

fear | American Dictionary

fear

noun [ C/U ]

/fɪər/

Add to word list Add to word list

a strong emotion caused by great worry about something dangerous, painful, or unknown that is happening or might happen:

[ U ] Even when the boat was rocked by waves, the boy showed no fear.

[ C ] The low sales continued, confirming our worst fears.

[ U ] She stood very still for fear of (= because she was worried about) being noticed.

fearless

adjective us

/ˈfɪər·ləs/

He was a tough, fearless soldier.

fear

verb

/fɪr/

to be frightened about someone or something unpleasant:

[ I ] The cab driver was going so fast, I feared for our safety.

To fear is also to be worried or upset:

[ + that clause ] They fear that Congress may not allocate the money needed.

Idiom

fear the worst

(Definition of fear from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of fear

fear

Many archaeologists regarded interest in theory with a certain suspicion, fearing that it might be a flight from the complex practical reality of archaeology.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Rather, the form of association as such is feared, because there is the possibility that it might be combined with a dangerous content.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The older generation of colonial visitors were thus free of the fears of their youthful counterparts at the prospect of vulgarity and isolation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Now, is the prospect of an endless interventionism something to be feared, because of the increasing power of the state that accompanies it?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The new research alleviated these fears to some extent, at least for certain problems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

She is powerful, an active presence, whose role is to give, care, and establish closeness, but who also evokes strong fears.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In order to persuade, a representation had also to respond to the expectations, fears, and desires of subjects.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Is the scheme meeting your expectations - hopes and fears?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Discussed women's fears and expectations about changes in their bodies and feelings of sexuality due to cancer and its treatment.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

People who presumed that their names appeared in lists of suspects feared to petition the authorities for travel documents.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

When the patients experience fears or terminal illness, emotional support becomes important.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

As was feared, the magnitude of bad loans discovered at the bank upon its collapse was of a much larger magnitude than disclosed earlier.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He discovered he could extend his own influence by fanning the ecclesiastics' fears that the emperor was no longer the best guarantor of their autonomy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Catholics claimed that they feared the seigneurs, who ' had always oppressed them ', presumably by denying them the freedom to worship publicly in their own church.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Railroads gave rise to new geo-strategic considerations, and aroused new fears and visions, both militarily and economically.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of fear

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with fear

fear

These are words often used in combination with fear.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

atmosphere of fear

Once again, there is an atmosphere of fear and repression in the country.

From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English

climate of fear

Unfortunately, the prevailing climate of fear and evasion made it virtually impossible to obtain a representative sample of experiences.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

constant fear

On the other hand, the intelligentsia were in constant fear that foreign economic penetration would result not in national prosperity, but foreign domination.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with fear

What is the pronunciation of fear?

Translations of fear

in Chinese (Traditional)

害怕，懼怕, 擔憂, 害怕，畏懼，懼怕…

in Chinese (Simplified)

害怕，惧怕, 担忧, 害怕，畏惧，惧怕…

in Spanish

miedo, temer, miedo [masculine]…

in Portuguese

medo, temor, temer…

in more languages

in Marathi

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in Italian

जेव्हा आपण एखाद्या धोकादायक, वेदनादायक किंवा वाईट गोष्टीमुळे घाबरता किंवा चिंताग्रस्त असता तेव्हा आपल्याकडे एक अप्रिय भावना किंवा विचार असतो जो घडत आहे किंवा घडू शकतो, भिती…

恐怖, ～を心配する, ～を恐れる…

korku, endişe, korkmak…

peur [feminine], crainte [feminine], craindre…

por, témer…

vrees, vrezen…

ஆபத்தான, வேதனையான அல்லது நடக்கும் அல்லது நடக்கக்கூடிய மோசமான ஒன்றைக் கண்டு நீங்கள் பயப்படும்போது அல்லது கவலைப்படும்போது உங்களுக்கு இருக்கும் விரும்பத்தகாத உணர்ச்சி அல்லது சிந்தனை, ஏதாவது அல்லது விரும்பத்தகாத ஒருவருக்கு பயப்படுத்துதல்…

डर, भय, (कुछ बुरा होने की) आशंका…

ડર, ભય, આશંકા (કંઈક ખરાબ થવાનો)…

frygt, angst, skræk…

rädsla, fruktan, vara rädd för…

ketakutan, takut, menyesal…

die Furcht, fürchten, befürchten…

frykt [masculine], bekymring [masculine], frykte…

خوف, ڈر, ڈرنا…

страх, побоювання, лякатися…

భయం, మీరు ఏదైనా ప్రమాదకరమైన, బాధాకరమైన లేదా చెడుగా జరుగుతున్న లేదా జరగవచ్చని భయపడినప్పుడు లేదా ఆందోళనకు గురైనప్పుడు మీకు కలిగే అసహ్యకరమైన/అసౌకర్యమైన భావోద్వేగం లేదా ఆలోచన…

ভয়, ভয় পাওয়া, উদ্বিগ্ন বা ভীত হওয়া যে খারাপ কিছু ঘটতে পারে…

strach, bát se, obávat se…

ketakutan, takut, menyesal…

ความกลัว, ทำให้กลัว, เกรง…

sự sợ hãi, sợ (ai/cái gì), lo ngại…

strach, obawa, lęk…