Fear

Definition: Fear

Fear

Noun

1. An emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight).

2. An anxious feeling; "care had aged him"; "they hushed it up out of fear of public reaction".

Verb

1. Be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event; "I fear she might get aggressive".

2. Be afraid or scared of; be frightened of; "I fear the winters in Moscow"; "We should not fear the Communists!".

3. Be sorry; used to introduce an unpleasant statement: "I fear I won't make it to your wedding party".

4. Be uneasy or apprehensive about; "I fear the results of the final exams".

5. Be in awe of; "Fear God as your father".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "fear" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Etymology: Fear \Fear\, noun. [Old English fer, feer, fere, Anglo-Saxon a coming suddenly upon, fear, danger; akin to Dutch vaar, Old High German f[=a]ra danger, German gefahr, Icelandic f[=a]r harm, mischief, plague, and to English fare, peril. See Fare.]. (references)

Multilingual Slang

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Fear

Affirmation

With emphasis, ex-cathedra, without fear of contradiction.

Cowardice

Verb: quail; (fear); be cowardly; Adjective:, be a coward; Noun: funk; cower,skulk, sneak; flinch, shy, fight shy, slink, turn tail; run away; (avoid); show, the white feather.

Poltroonery, baseness; dastardness, dastardy; abject fear, funk; Dutch courage; fear; white feather, faint heart; cold feet , yellow streak.

Discontent

Inquietude, vexation of spirit, soreness; worry, concern, fear.

Duty

Phrase: dura lex sed lex; dulce et decorum est pro patria mori; honos habet onus; leve fit quod bene fertur onus; loyaute m'oblige; " simple duty bath no place for fear "; " stern daughter of the voice of God ";Phrase: dura lex sed lex; dulce et decorum est pro patria mori; honos habet onus; leve fit quod bene fertur onus; loyaute m'oblige; " simple duty bath no place for fear "; " stern daughter of the voice of God "; " there is a higher law than the Constitution ".

Fear

Put in fear, put in bodily fear; terrorize, intimidate, cow, daunt, overawe, abash, deter, discourage; browbeat, bully; threaten.

Nervousness, restlessness; Adjective: inquietude, disquietude, worry, concern; batophobia; heartquake; flutter, trepidation, fear and trembling, perturbation, tremor, quivering, shaking, trembling, throbbing heart, palpitation, ague fit, cold sweat; abject fear; (cowardice); mortal funk, heartsinking, despondency; despair.

Noun: fear, timidity, diffidence, want of confidence; apprehensiveness, fearfulness; Adjective: solicitude, anxiety, care, apprehension, misgiving; feeze; mistrust; (doubt); suspicion, qualm; hesitation; (irresolution).

Inspiring fear; Verb: alarming; formidable, redoubtable; perilous; (danger); portentous; fearful; dread, dreadful; fell; dire, direful; shocking; terrible, terrific; tremendous; horrid, horrible, horrific; ghastly; awful, awe-inspiring; revolting; (painful); Gorgonian.

Inspire fear, excite fear, inspire awe, excite awe; raise aprehensions; be in a daze, bulldoze; faze, feeze; give an alarm, raise an alarm, sound an alarm; alarm, startle, scare, cry " wolf," disquiet, dismay; fright, frighten, terrify; astound; fright from one's propriety; fright out of one's senses, fright out of one's wits, fright out of one's seven senses; awe; strike all of a heap, strike an awe into, strike terror; harrow up the soul, appall, unman, petrify, horrify; pile on the agony.

Adjective: fearing; Verb: frightened; Verb: in fear, in a fright; Noun: haunted with the fear of; Noun: afeard.

A dagger of the mind ; expertus metuit; " fain would I climb but that I fear to fall"; " fear is the parent of cruelty "; " Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire "; omnia tuta timens; " our fears do make us traitors "

Verb: fear, stand in awe of; be afraid; Adjective: have qualms; Noun: apprehend, sit upon thorns, eye askance; distrust; (disbelieve).

Hope

Unsuspecting, unsuspicious; fearless, free from fear, free from suspicion, free from distrust, free from despair, exempt from fear, exempt from suspicion, exempt from distrust, exempt from despair;

Imbecility Folly

Phrase: Davus sum non; "a fool's bolt is soon shot" clitellae bovi sunt impositae; "fools rush in where angels fear to tread"; il n' a ni bouche ni eperon; "the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read"; "to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound".

Crosswords: Fear

Frisian (feather, ferry, pen, plume, spring), Irish (fellow, man), Scottish (a man, fellow, man, one : fear-an-tighe).

There were other cries, too. Diffrent from those full with fear and lonelyness (Sleepers; writing credit: Barry Levinson)

I fear neither death nor pain (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; writing credit: Frances Walsh)

Fear is the path to the dark side (Episode I: The Phantom Menace; writing credit: George Lucas.)

Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it (Blade Runner; writing credit: Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Based on the novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' by Philip K. Dick.)

It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead (The Terminator; writing credit: James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, Harlan Ellison)

Nothing there to fear (Duck And Run; performing artist: 3 Doors Down)

I feel a kind of fear (Lay All Your Love On Me; performing artist: Abba)

Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor (Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning); performing artist: Alan Jackson)

Is like living in a world of constant fear (Until You Come Back To Me; performing artist: Aretha Franklin)

So everybody everywhere Don't be afraid don't have no fear (Everybody(Backstreet's Back); performing artist: BACKSTREET BOYS)

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear. (references; author: Mark Twain)

If your fear that people will know, don't do it. (references; author: Chinese Proverb)

Love God more than you fear Hell. (references; author: unknown)

Aibohphobia: The fear of palindromes. (references; author: unknown)

Live by what you trust, not by what you fear. (references; author: unknown)

Fear of Flying (2000)

File it Under Fear (1973)

Fear (1973)

A Reflection of Fear (1973)

Night of Fear (1972)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Allen Iverson: Fear No One (reference)

• A Threat Imminence Approach to Human Fear Responding: Direction of Threat, Aversive Contexts & Electrodermal Responses (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Studia Psychologica Upsaliensia, 18) (reference)

• The Imposter Phenomenon: Overcoming the Fear That Haunts Your Success (reference)

• FDR and Fear Itself: The First Inaugural Address (The Library of Presidential Rhetoric) (reference)

• Beyond anxiety; the Christian answer to fear, frustration, guilt, indecision, inhibition, loneliness, despair (reference)

  (more book examples)

Periodicals

• Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Membership (reference)

  (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies

• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (reference)

• Fear in the Night (reference)

• Primal Fear (reference)

• Fear (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Respect All Fear None (reference)

• The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech

• No Fear Downhill Mountain Biking (reference)

  (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domesticated animals afflicted with dumb rabies may become increasingly depressed, and try to hide in isolated places, while wild animals seem to lose their fear of human beings, often appearing unusually friendly. Credit: CDC.

Fear. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Fight the fear with facts. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Not Ellen but Margaret, with fear in her face and tired eyes, alone. Credit: Library of Congress.

Tis Mistress Spring! alas, my dear : you find me greatly changed, I fear. Credit: Library of Congress.

HST need not fear his historical niche -- unequaled, he soaked the poor and also the rich. Credit: Library of Congress.

Secret weapon they fear most. Credit: Library of Congress.

Rice culture on Cape Fear River, N.C. / from sketches by James E. Taylor. Credit: Library of Congress.

Cover of American Druggist, Aug. 1929, showing waiter, carrying three ice cream floats, looking in fear at bee in his lapel; calendar for August 1929 in lower left corner. Credit: Library of Congress.

Sharpsburg citizens leaving for fear of the Rebels. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

The Ammonites making war upon Israel, the Gileadites in fear send to lephtha, a bastard of their family whom they had cast off, and article with him, if he will assist them against the Ammonites, to make him their ruler; which they do in these words, And the people made him head and captain over them, Judg. (Second Treatise of Government)

The fear of them alone might easily have been used to enforce totalitarian systems upon the free democratic world, with consequences appalling to human imagination. ("Iron Curtain" Speech)

Let us never negotiate out of fear. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

There is great fear, great caution, great resolution somewhere

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.

But I fear Medicine stands on a different footing

That is my name, and I fear it may not be pleasant to you.

There is nothing at all to fear on the side of the populace of the capital

This place is giving me the Fear.

A long shiver of fear flowed over his body

I fear me both are false

Here is the node, you who hate change and fear revolution

I fear my thoughts will not come back to me.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Perhaps they fear they cannot cope with new situations. (references)

Neither you nor anyone else need fear contact with the child. (references)

Common reactions are denial, anger, guilt, grief, fear, and confusion. (references)

Business

As is often the case elsewhere in the world, they recognize its value in improving Egypt’s economy but fear loss of control. (references)

Reasons given include the fear of rising crime as well as the need for the population to stay connected regardless of their physical location. (references)

All markets in the country have generally shown to be very sensitive to changes in government, mostly for fear of change in economic conditions. (references)

Children

Bulgaria

Some Bulgarian parents are reluctant to have too many Romani children enrolled in school because they fear it will lower the school's academic standards. (references)

Thailand

Although the Bangkok authorities attempt to provide shelters, resources are inadequate and many of the children reportedly avoid the shelters for fear of being detained and expelled from the country. (references)

Japan

In 2000 the Tokyo prefectural government put into effect programs to protect the welfare of stateless children, whose births their illegal immigrant mothers refused to register for fear of forcible repatriation. (references)

Civil Liberties

Botswana

These publications reported and editorialized without fear of closure. (references)

Rwanda

Most journalists practice self-censorship due to fear of government reprisals. (references)

Papua New Guinea

Police assert that they fear violence from unruly spectators and rarely give approval. (references)

Economic History

Ireland

There is little fear of a flight of digital capital. (references)

Norway

Norway's corporate tax rates are not as high as many fear, and lower than the EU average. (references)

Kazakhstan

Moreover, company managers fear diluting control of their enterprises by selling more shares. (references)

Human Rights

Panama

Prisoners have expressed fear of retaliation if they complain. (references)

Ecuador

Prison officials fear the measures may exacerbate overcrowding. (references)

Jamaica

Numerous residents slated to testify did not appear, citing fear of retaliation. (references)

Minorities

Dominican Republic

Some parents fail to seek documentation due to fear of being deported. (references)

Lebanon

Refugees fear that the Government may reduce the size of the camps or eliminate them completely. (references)

Nepal

Nevertheless, converts generally do not fear to admit in public their new religious affiliations. (references)

Political Economy

Sudan

Fear of the imposition of Shari'a law remained a key problem in the south. (references)

Iraq

The military and security forces play a central role in maintaining the environment of intimidation and fear on which government power rests. (references)

Tanzania

An increasingly independent press follows political and business issues with little fear of retribution for public criticism of government officials. (references)

Political Rights

Rwanda

This fear was based on historical experience; however, there were no reports of reprisals following the March elections. (references)

Zimbabwe

In many districts, the campaign reportedly backfired, resulting in additional votes for the opposition, but in others voters stayed away from the polls due to fear of retribution. (references)

Rwanda

However, a March report by Human Rights Watch indicated that in 45 percent of the contests only one candidate ran for office, some potential candidates withdrew after being threatened, and some voters cast their ballots out of fear of reprisal. (references)

Trade

Kazakhstan

Local citizens are wary of the reliability of Kazakhstani banks and fear local tax authorities. (references)

Pakistan

Foreign banks have reacted cautiously to proposals to establish a system of deposit insurance, because they fear having, in effect, to subsidize the state-owned and newly privatized banks that hold far weaker portfolios. (references)

Thailand

Local banks and other financial institutions are exercising more caution on new lending due to the fear of creating new non-performing loans . Lending is now much different than in the past, in that most banks are now asking for a definitive business plan from borrowers before approving loans. (references)

Travel

Vietnam

Fear of losing face often makes Vietnamese wary of spontaneous give-and-take, unscripted public comment, or off-the-cuff negotiation. (references)

Women

Qatar

Abused domestic servants usually do not press charges for fear of losing their jobs. (references)

Philippines

It is thought to be widespread yet underreported due to victims' fear of losing their jobs. (references)

Worker Rights

Zimbabwe

Many employees are afraid to do so, for fear of management reprisals. (references)

Azerbaijan

Workers cannot leave dangerous work conditions without fear of losing their jobs. (references)

Peru

Labor advocates claim that many workers are reluctant to organize due to fear of dismissal. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Fear of them

Fear

Well of great fear

Fear

Fear

Fear

The fear of the Lord

Fear

Fear

Fear

Fear

Fear

The shade or tingling of fear

Expressions using "fear": assailed by fear ♦ be possessed by fear ♦ be seized with fear ♦ be taken with fear ♦ Bodily fear ♦ Cape Fear ♦ Cape Fear River ♦ causing fear and alarm among the population ♦ chill of fear ♦ display fear ♦ exempt from fear ♦ express fear ♦ fear and loathing ♦ fear death ♦ fear for ♦ fear for one's skin ♦ fear for smb.'s safety ♦ fear of death ♦ fear of heights ♦ fear of the Lord the ♦ fear possessed him ♦ For fear ♦ for fear of ♦ free from fear ♦ grow pale from fear ♦ haunted with the fear of ♦ have no fear ♦ i fear so ♦ ill with fear ♦ in fear of ♦ mortal fear ♦ obsessive fear ♦ possessed by fear ♦ primeval fear ♦ quake with fear ♦ rigid with fear ♦ sickening fear ♦ stand in fear of smb. ♦ the fear of ♦ tremble with fear ♦ turn white with fear ♦ without fear ♦ without fear of contradiction ♦ without fear of favor ♦ without fear of favour ♦ without fear or favor ♦ without fear or favour. Additional references.

Beginning with "fear": Fear-a-choire, fear-arousal, fear-chill, fear-crazed, fear-filled, fear-free, fear-inducing, fear-inspiring, fear-levels, fear-monger, fear-mongering, fear-provoking, fear-ridden, fear-sharp, fear-silence, fear-stricken.

Ending with "fear": techno-fear.

Containing "fear": guilt-anxiety-fear-anger, play-on-fear-of-greenhouse-effect.

Afrikaans

vrees. (various references)

Albanian

frikë (affright, apprehension, cowardice, dismay, doubt, dread, fright, habdabs, jim-jams, phobia, scare, shake), shqetësim (affliction, agitation, anxiety, bother, care, concern, discomfort, discomposure, displeasure, disquiet, disquietude, distemper, distress, disturbance, fash, feeling, fidget, flurry, fret, Fry, harassment, inconvenience, inquietude, moil, perturbation, plague, preoccupation, qualm, restlessness, solicitude, trepidation, trouble, tumult, turmoil, uneasiness, unrest, vexation, worry), rrezik (chance, danger, distress, hazard, imminence, impendence, jeopardy, menace, peril, risk, riskiness), kam frikë (be afraid, funk), druaj (apprehend, be shy, doubt, dread). (various references)

Arabic 

ذعْر (panic), ‏خوف (browbeat, bully, dread, fright, frighten, frightfulness, give a scare, horror, panic, put the wind up, scare, terror, trepidation), ‏خطر (adventurous, advise, awkward, challenge, come, critical, danger, dangerous, embargo, give smb. notice, hazard, importance, jeopardy, parlous, peril, perilous, poisonous, prohibition, proscription, risk, risky, unhealthy), ‏خاف (be afraid, be scared, take fright, wear off), ‏خشية (apprehension), ‏خشي (apprehend, awe, be afraid, funk, hesitate). (various references)

Basque

beldur. (various references)

Bulgarian 

страхувам се (be afraid, doubt, funk), страх (alarm, apprehension, dismay, dread, fright, funk, horror, terror), ужас (abhorrence, atrocity, dread, fright, frightfulness, horror, monstrosity, recoil, scare, terror), вероятност (credibility, expectance, expectancy, expectation, feasibility, likelihood, presumption, probability, verisimilitude), опасявам се от, опасявам се (apprehend), опасност (danger, jeopardy, menace, peril, risk, shoal, threat), опасение (apprehension, contemplation, misgiving, qualm, uneasiness), боя се (apprehend, be afraid of, funk). (various references)

Catalan

por (agony, anguish). (various references)

Chinese 

恐惧 (Feared, Fearing, horrified, horrify, horrifying), 恐懼 (dread), 懍 , 憚 (dislike, dread, exhausted), 戄 (be in awe, sudden glance), 忌? (be afraid of). (various references)

Czech

strach (alarm, apprehension, dread, dribbler, fright, tremor). (various references)

Danish

være bange for (be afraid of), være bange (be afraid of), angst (agony, anguish, fright). (various references)

Dutch

benauwdheid (agony, anguish, tightness of the chest), beklemming (agony, anguish, dejection, depression, oppression), angst (agony, anguish, anxiety, fright). (various references)

Esperanto

timo, timi (be afraid of), angoro (agony, anguish). (various references)

Faeroese

vera bangin (be afraid of), angist (agony, anguish), ótti, óttast (be afraid of). (various references)

Finnish

pelätä (be afraid, be afraid of). (various references)

French

crainte, peur, craindre, avoir peur, angoisse. (various references)

Frisian

eangstme (agony, anguish, fright), eangst (agony, anguish, fright), benaudens (agony, anguish, fright), bangens. (various references)

German

Furcht (apprehensibility, dread), fürchten (be afraid of, dread, to fear, tremble), befürchten (apprehend, be afraid of, be scared, to fear), angst (agony, anguish, anxie