Meaning of "fear" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FEAR

Old English fǣr; related to Old High German fāra, Old Norse fār hostility, Latin perīculum danger.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF FEAR

fear  [fɪə]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FEAR

Fear is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb fear in English.

WHAT DOES FEAR MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Fear

Fear is an emotion induced by a threat perceived by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately a change in behavior, such as running away, hiding or freezing from traumatic events. Fear may occur in response to a specific stimulus happening in the present, or to a future situation, which is perceived as risk to health or life, status, power, security, or in the case of humans wealth or anything held valuable. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat, which in extreme cases of fear can be a freeze response or paralysis. In humans and animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Thus fear has been judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate. An irrational fear is called a phobia. Psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that there is only a small set of basic or innate emotions and that fear is one of them. This hypothesized set includes such emotions as joy, sadness, fright, dread, horror, panic, anxiety, acute stress reaction and anger.

Definition of fear in the English dictionary

The first definition of fear in the dictionary is a feeling of distress, apprehension, or alarm caused by impending danger, pain, etc. Other definition of fear is a cause of this feeling. Fear is also awe; reverence.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO FEAR

PRESENT

Present

I fear

you fear

he/she/it fears

we fear

you fear

they fear

Present continuous

I am fearing

you are fearing

he/she/it is fearing

we are fearing

you are fearing

they are fearing

Present perfect

I have feared

you have feared

he/she/it has feared

we have feared

you have feared

they have feared

Present perfect continuous

I have been fearing

you have been fearing

he/she/it has been fearing

we have been fearing

you have been fearing

they have been fearing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I feared

you feared

he/she/it feared

we feared

you feared

they feared

Past continuous

I was fearing

you were fearing

he/she/it was fearing

we were fearing

you were fearing

they were fearing

Past perfect

I had feared

you had feared

he/she/it had feared

we had feared

you had feared

they had feared

Past perfect continuous

I had been fearing

you had been fearing

he/she/it had been fearing

we had been fearing

you had been fearing

they had been fearing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will fear

you will fear

he/she/it will fear

we will fear

you will fear

they will fear

Future continuous

I will be fearing

you will be fearing

he/she/it will be fearing

we will be fearing

you will be fearing

they will be fearing

Future perfect

I will have feared

you will have feared

he/she/it will have feared

we will have feared

you will have feared

they will have feared

Future perfect continuous

I will have been fearing

you will have been fearing

he/she/it will have been fearing

we will have been fearing

you will have been fearing

they will have been fearing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would fear

you would fear

he/she/it would fear

we would fear

you would fear

they would fear

Conditional continuous

I would be fearing

you would be fearing

he/she/it would be fearing

we would be fearing

you would be fearing

they would be fearing

Conditional perfect

I would have fear

you would have fear

he/she/it would have fear

we would have fear

you would have fear

they would have fear

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been fearing

you would have been fearing

he/she/it would have been fearing

we would have been fearing

you would have been fearing

they would have been fearing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you fear
we let´s fear
you fear

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to fear

Past participle

feared

Present Participle

fearing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «FEAR»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «fear» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of fear

agitation · alarm · angst · anticipate · anxiety · apprehend · apprehension · apprehensiveness · awe · blue funk · bogey · bugbear · butterflies · collywobbles · concern · consternation · cravenness · creeps · dismay · disquietude · distress · doubt · dread · expect · fearfulness · feel · foresee · fright · funk · heebie-jeebies · horror · likelihood · nerves · nervousness · nightmare · panic · phobia · possibility · regret · respect · revere · reverence · solicitude · spectre · suspect · suspicion · terror · thing · timidity · trepidation · unease · uneasiness · venerate · veneration · willies · wonder · worry · worship

TRANSLATION OF FEAR

Find out the translation of fear to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of fear from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «fear» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 害怕
• Translator English - Spanish: miedo
• English: fear
• Translator English - Hindi: डर
• Translator English - Arabic: خَوْف
• Translator English - Russian: страх
• Translator English - Portuguese: medo
• Translator English - Bengali: ভয়
• Translator English - French: peur
• Translator English - Malay: Ketakutan
• Translator English - German: Angst
• Translator English - Japanese: 不安
• Translator English - Korean: 두려움
• Translator English - Javanese: Wedi
• Translator English - Vietnamese: nỗi sợ
• Translator English - Tamil: பயம்
• Translator English - Marathi: भीती
• Translator English - Turkish: korku
• Translator English - Italian: paura
• Translator English - Polish: obawa
• Translator English - Ukrainian: страх
• Translator English - Romanian: frică
• Translator English - Greek: φόβος
• Translator English - Afrikaans: vrees
• Translator English - Swedish: rädsla
• Translator English - Norwegian: frykt

10 QUOTES WITH «FEAR»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word fear.

1

Maria Bamford

I express things through characters because I have a fear that my own voice is irritating because that's been said to me.

2

Anne Beatts

There was this real fear in doing 'Square Pegs' after getting such a fast ride to glory on 'Saturday Night Live'. I was afraid that the word would be 'peaks early, fails to live up to promise.'

3

Shelley Berkley

My mother had a fear of doctors - other than her daughter marrying one.

4

David Brainerd

I fear God never showed mercy to one so vile as I.

5

Susan Brooks

A budget matters to people who worry about protecting and saving critical programs like Medicare and Social Security. A budget matters to younger workers who fear that more and more money will be taken from their paychecks to fund another generation's spending spree.

6

Tina Brown

The Taliban knows they have more to fear from an educated girl than an American drone.

7

Robert Browning

Love, hope, fear, faith - these make humanity; These are its sign and note and character.

8

Jerome Cady

Fear has nothing to do with cowardice. A fellow is only yellow when he lets his fear make him quit.

9

Kelly Clarkson

I have a big fear of change, or negative change, anyway. I'm basically the same person I was when I won 'Idol,' or when I was 10.

10

Nadia Comaneci

I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FEAR»

Discover the use of fear in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to fear and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

In this work, Gavin de Becker shows you how to spot even subtle signs of danger - before it's too late.

Gavin De Becker, 2000

Art & fear: observations on the perils (and rewards) of ...

Written by artists, for artists, this survival guide explores the way art gets made, the reason it often doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.

David Bayles, Ted Orland, 2001

Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life: Critical ...

Through new theories and new research findings, this book builds together a coherent argument, linking political events taking place at an international scale to ordinary people's experiences of risk and fear in their everyday lives.

Dr Rachel Pain, Professor Susan J Smith, 2012

Fear: The History of a Political Idea

Documents the growing fascination with political danger and disaster, reexamines fear's modern interpreters including Hobbes and Tocqueville, and offers an antidote to the culture of fear.

Corey Robin, 2004

Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child ...

The author describes his early days as a smart-mouthed Kentucky kid, his law-breaking journalism, his campaign for sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Power ticket, and his experience in the riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago.

Hunter S. Thompson, 2003

The Fear Book: Facing Fear Once and for All

Rather than explaining typical strategies for overcoming fear, this book focuses on examining how fear is experience, how to recognize that experience as nothing more than conditioned reaction to circumstance, and how to mentor oneself into ...

Cheri Huber, June Shiver, 1995

Creating Fear: News and the Construction of Crisis

This book attempts through the marshalling of significant data to interrupt that vicious cycle of fear discourse.

David L. Altheide

Fear

From New York Times bestselling author Jeff Abbott.

Jeff Abbott, 2013

Fear: Across the Disciplines

This volume provides a cross-disciplinary examination of fear, that most unruly of our emotions, by offering a broad survey of the psychological, biological, and philosophical basis of fear in historical and contemporary contexts.

Jan Plamper, Benjamin Lazier, 2012

Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle

Instead of adopting the Precautionary Principle, Professor Sunstein argues for three steps: a narrow Anti-Catastrophe Principle, designed for the most serious risks; close attention to costs and benefits; and an approach called 'libertarian ...

Cass R. Sunstein, 2005

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FEAR»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term fear is used in the context of the following news items.

AMC's 'Fear the Walking Dead' Sets Premiere Date; Releases Trailer

AMC has set an Aug. 23 premiere date for “Fear the Walking Dead,” the companion series to cable's top-rated series of all time, “The Walking ... «Variety, Jul 15»

Fear Factory on New AI-Themed Concept Album and Why 'Man Is …

The first Terminator movie was a major inspiration behind the man vs. machine themes of veteran industrial-metal band Fear Factory, but any ... «RollingStone.com, Jul 15»

Elderly Greeks tapping pensions fear cuts could hit hard

``My biggest fear is for my grandchildren and I'm trying not to talk with them about it,'' she said, sighing. ``But my grandson understands what's ... «Economic Times, Jul 15»

Should Cisco Systems, PTC Thingworx, IBM, And Zebra …

Tech 7/09/2015 @ 2:54PM 2,694 views. Should Cisco Systems, PTC Thingworx, IBM, And Zebra Technologies Fear Ayla Networks IoT Platform? Comment Now. «Forbes, Jul 15»

Driving Policies Through Fraud And Fear-Mongering

The public's general fear of anything labeled a chemical, or requiring some comfort with numbers, is a powerful psychological tool for alarmists. «Western Journalism, Jul 15»

What fear of singing? Jennifer Lawrence does a mean Cher …

Jennifer Lawrence is terrified of singing in front of people, but, in typical Lawrence fashion, she doesn't seem to have a problem with it when ... «Los Angeles Times, Jul 15»

Fear the Walking Dead News: Everything We Know

Fear The Walking Dead has already secured a second season. Again, this is not surprising at all. The Walking Dead viewership is larger than ... «Den of Geek!, Jul 15»

Gardaí fear Christy Keane shooting may lead to gang feud

Security at a number of potential flash points in Limerick City is under review following an attempted murder that gardaí fear may lead to a new ... «Irish Times, Jul 15»

Passengers 'vomit in fear' after mobile phone bomb scare causes …

A passenger onboard an Emirates flight which was diverted after a bomb scare caused by a passenger's mobile phone has described the ... «ABC Online, Jul 15»

Greed trumps fear for eurozone equities

Greed trumps fear for eurozone equities ... as investors cast aside the fear of contagion that had stalked share markets on Monday and Tuesday ... «Financial Times, Jul 15»