Word of the Day ·

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afraid

/əˈfɹeɪd/Southern US/əˈfɹɛd/

adjective

What it means

  1. predicativeImpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.

    He is afraid of death.

    4 more examples

    He is afraid to ask her out.

    He is afraid of the future.

    I’m not afraid of telling / to tell you the truth: I'm reluctant to go in you car because I’m too afraid of crashing.

    I went through the worst Ku Klux proposition in the country at the time it was at its height. And I had to go down to the Ku Klux meeting and tell them what I thought of them, and I wasn't afraid of them at all. And I'm not afraid of this situation because I think it'll work out in a way that when these people sit down and get a chance to think and study the situation, they're going to be ashamed of some of the things they've done.

    1964, Harry S. Truman, 2:28 from the start, in MP2002-77 Former President Truman Discusses Bigotry in the United States, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162

    Synonyms: afeared, alarmed, anxious, apprehensive, fearful, timid, timorous

  2. predicativeRegretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.

    I am afraid I cannot help you in this matter.

    Synonyms: sorry

  3. predicativeWorried about, feeling concern for, fearing for (someone or something).

In a sentence

He is afraid of death.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European*prāy-
  2. Proto-Germanic*frijōną“to free; to love”
  3. Proto-Germanic*friþuz“peace”
  4. Frankish*friþu“security, peace”
  5. Old Frencheffreer
  6. Anglo-Normanafrayer“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”
  7. Middle Englishaffrayed
  8. Englishafraid

From Middle English affrayed, affraied, past participle of afraien (“to affray”), from Anglo-Norman afrayer (“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”), from Old French effreer, esfreer (“to disturb, remove the peace from”), from es- (“out”) + freer (“to secure, secure the peace”), from Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *prāy-, *prēy- (“to like, love”). By surface analysis, affray + -ed. Compare also afeard. More at free, friend.

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