fear

The word "fear" can be used as a verb or as a noun. It’s similar to the words "scare" and "afraid," but these words are not direct substitutes for "fear."

Look at the differences among these sentences:

• He has a fear of the dark. ("Fear" is a noun in this sentence.)
• He fears the darkness. ("Fear" is a verb in this sentence.)
• He’s afraid of the dark. ("Afraid" is an adjective.)
• The dark scares him. ("Scare" is a verb.)
• He’s scared of the dark. (the word "scared" can be used as an adjective or as a verb.)

She has a fear of snakes. (Snakes scare her. She’s afraid of them.)
He has a fear of the dentist. He fears going to the dentist.
He has a fear of the water. He fears the water. (He’s afraid to go into the water.)
He has a fear of dogs. (Dogs scare him. He’s afraid of dogs.)

It’s healthy to have a sense of fear. In fact, fear is what keeps us safe. If we had no fear, we’d probably do a lot of stupid things that would result in injury or death.

Do you have trouble making "f" sounds? If so, click here for some pronunciation practice.

Click here to go to the Word of the Day page.

This page was first published on July 21, 2012. It was updated on March 1, 2016.