fear

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a feeling of profound respect for someone or something

   the fear of God

2. 2
   verb

   be uneasy or apprehensive about

   I fear the results of the final exams

3. 3
   verb

   be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event

   I fear they might get aggressive.

4. 4
   noun

   A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.

   He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.

5. 5
   noun

   A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular.

   Not everybody has the same fears.

6. 6
   noun

   Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear.

   Spiders are my greatest fear.

7. 7
   noun

   Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.

   The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome.

8. 8
   noun

   A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.

   Her feeling of humiliation had intensified as the day had gone on and her hangover had worsened. She now also had 'the fear' to contend with, […]

Etymology

From Middle English feer, fere, fer (“fear”), from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fērō, *fērą (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through, carry forth, try”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, hazard, risk”), Danish fare (“danger, hazard, risk”), Faroese and Icelandic fár (“accident, anger, calamity”), Norwegian fare (“danger”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”), Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, experiment”), Arme…