fearless

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈfɪrləs/ UK /ˈfɪələs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
showing no fear; brave

The fearless climber scaled the cliff without ropes.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showing no fear; brave brave courageous bold intrepid dauntless valiant undaunted gallant

Opposites

fearful cowardly timid afraid craven

Word family

Forms fearlessly

Derived forms fearlesslyfearlessness

Related forms fear feared fearful fearsome

Etymology

From 'fear' + the privative suffix '-less'. 'Fear' is from Old English 'fǣr' ('calamity, sudden danger'), from Proto-Germanic '*fērō' ('danger'), from Proto-Indo-European '*per-' ('to try, risk').

fǣr Old English *per- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# fearless

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɪrləs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɪələs/

## Meanings
1. showing no fear; brave

## Examples
- The fearless climber scaled the cliff without ropes.

## Synonyms
- brave
- courageous
- bold
- intrepid
- dauntless
- valiant
- undaunted
- gallant

## Antonyms
- fearful
- cowardly
- timid
- afraid
- craven

## Derived Forms
- fearlessly
- fearlessness

## Related Forms
- fear
- feared
- fearful
- fearsome

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fǣr
- Root: *per-
- Affix: -less - without

## Etymology
From 'fear' + the privative suffix '-less'. 'Fear' is from Old English 'fǣr' ('calamity, sudden danger'), from Proto-Germanic '*fērō' ('danger'), from Proto-Indo-European '*per-' ('to try, risk').

## AI Etymology
Fearless is from 'fear' + the privative suffix '-less'. 'Fear' is from Old English 'fǣr' ('calamity, sudden danger'), from Proto-Germanic '*fērō' ('danger'), from Proto-Indo-European '*per-' ('to try, risk'). Important recorded forms include fǣr (Old English) and *per- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers showing no fear; brave. The wider family includes derived forms such as fearlessly and fearlessness and related words such as fear, feared, fearful, and fearsome.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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