Synonyms for afraid
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Fearful — impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear
fearful, terrified, frightened, apprehensive, anxious, timid, alarmed, faint-hearted, concerned, cautious, panicked, panicky, cowardly, horrified, panic-stricken, aghast, chicken, timorous dated, afeared rare
2. Scared
scared, wary, dismayed, shocked, disinclined, petrified, scared shitless vulgar slang
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
He is afraid of the future.
- adj. 2
Regretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.
I am afraid I cannot help you in this matter.
Related words
- Is a kind of
- emotional
Example sentences
- terrified Sami became terrified of what Layla could do next.
- frightened The frightened boy's heart palpitated with terror.
- fearful “People are very fearful of the virus,” he added.
- apprehensive Sami was apprehensive as he approached the door.
- scared The problem is that Tom is just as scared as I am.
- wary My parents always told me to be wary of strangers.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| afraid | rising | |
| terrified | rising | |
| frightened | rising | |
| fearful | rising | |
| apprehensive | steady | |
| scared | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- wary2
- 5 letters
- sorry2, timid2
- 6 letters
- scared1, aghast2
- 7 letters
- chicken2, shocked1, anxious2, fearful2, alarmed2, panicky3, afeared
- 8 letters
- cautious2, panicked2, cowardly3, dismayed2, timorous3
- 9 letters
- concerned2, terrified3, horrified3, petrified3
- 10 letters
- frightened2
- 11 letters
- disinclined3
- 12 letters
- apprehensive4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (wary2 = 2 syllables).