Meanings
comparative more afraid · superlative most afraid · alternative obsolete affrayed · alternative 'fraid
- 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: 595162Synonyms: afeared, alarmed, anxious, apprehensive, fearful, timid, timorous
- predicativeRegretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.
I am afraid I cannot help you in this matter.
Synonyms: sorry
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveImpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
adjectiveRegretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivefilled with fear or apprehension
adjectivefilled with regret or concern; used often to soften an unpleasant statement
adjectivefeeling worry or concern or insecurity
adjectivehaving feelings of aversion or unwillingness
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*prāy-
- Proto-Germanic*frijōną“to free; to love”
- Proto-Germanic*friþuz“peace”
- Frankish*friþu“security, peace”
- Old Frencheffreer
- Anglo-Normanafrayer“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”
- Middle Englishaffrayed
- 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.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic خَائِف, مَرْعُوب
- خَائِف (ḵāʔif)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- مَرْعُوب (marʕūb)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Bulgarian изпла́шен
- изпла́шен (izplášen)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Catalan amb por
- amb porimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Chinese Mandarin 害怕, 怕
- 害怕 (hàipà)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- 怕 (pà)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- 恐怕 (kǒngpà)regretful, sorry
Czech bojácný, bázlivý
- bojácnýimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- bázlivýimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- vystrašenýimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Danish bange
- bangeimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Dutch bang, bevreesd
- bangimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- bevreesdimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Esperanto tima
- timaimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Finnish peloissaan, pelätä
- peloissaanimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- pelätäimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- pahoillaanregretful, sorry
- pelkäänpäregretful, sorry
French effrayé
- effrayéimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
German ängstlich, bedauern
- ängstlichimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- bedauernregretful, sorry
- leiderregretful, sorry
Hebrew מְפַחֵד, יָרֵא
- מְפַחֵד (m'faẖéd)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- יָרֵא (yaré)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Hungarian fél, attól tart
- félimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- attól tartregretful, sorry
- sajnálregretful, sorry
- sajnosregretful, sorry
Indonesian takut
- takutimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Irish eaglach, is eagal le
- eaglachimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- is eagal leregretful, sorry
Italian con paura
- con pauraimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Japanese 怖い
- 怖い (kowai)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Korean 무서워하다
- 무서워하다 (museowo-hada)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Latin metuēns, timidus
- metuēnsimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- timidusimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Latvian bail, bailīgs
- bailimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- bailīgsimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Malay takut
- takutimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Māori uruwehi, pūihi
- uruwehiimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- pūihiimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- matakuimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- koeraimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Norwegian redd, engstelig
- reddimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- engsteligimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- reddregretful, sorry
Polish bać się, bać się
- bać sięimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- bać sięregretful, sorry
Portuguese com medo, temer
- com medoimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- temerregretful, sorry
Russian испу́ганный, боя́ться
- испу́ганный (ispúgannyj)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- боя́тьсяregretful, sorry
- что ... (bojátʹsja, što ...)regretful, sorry
Slovak vystrašený
- vystrašenýimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Spanish con miedo, con temor
- con miedoimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- con temorimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- con sustoimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- asustadoimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- que temeimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- que tiene miedoimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- que le da miedoimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- temerse queregretful, sorry
Swedish rädd
- räddimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Tagalog takot
- takotimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Thai กลัว
- กลัว (gluua)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Turkish korkak
- korkakimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Ukrainian наляканий, ляка́тися
- наляканий (naljakanyj)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
- ляка́тися (ljakátysja)impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Vietnamese đáng sợ
- đáng sợimpressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with afraid
Anagrams
Cite this entry
afraid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afraid
“afraid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afraid. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “afraid,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afraid.
Source: afraid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.