fearful
/ˈfɪəfəl/ adjective, adverb
Forms fearefull fearfull
- adjective Frightening; causing fear.
- adjective Tending to fear; timid. “a fearful boy”
- adjective (dated) Terrible; shockingly bad.
- adjective (now rare) Frightened; filled with terror.
- adverb (dialectal) Extremely; fearfully.
Synonyms
frightened timid timorous awful dire direful dread dreaded dreadful fearsome frightening horrendous horrific terrible cowardly frightful trepid
Etymology
From Middle English ferful, fervol, equivalent to fear + -ful.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Full of fera, apprehension, or alarm; afraid; frightened.
- adjective inclined to fear; easily frightened; without courage; timid.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fearful”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details