Another word for afraid

afraid Synonyms

afraid

modif.

Apprehensive of the future
hesitant, anxious, apprehensive, disturbed, frightened, fearful, scared, nervous, timorous, cautious, uneasy, timid, jittery, fidgety, alarmed, cowed, intimidated, cowardly, dismayed, daunted, disheartened, disquieted, discouraged, perplexed, worried, perturbed, upset, distressed, fainthearted, jumpy*, leery*, chicken*, shaky*, shook-up*.
Antonyms confident*, self-assured, fearless.
Gripped by fear
scared, frightened, terrified, panic-stricken, in a fright, terror-stricken, terrorized, petrified, shocked, frozen, aghast, nerves all shot, alarmed, startled, aroused, horrified, stunned, rattled, unnerved, affrighted, struck dumb, trembling, in awe, in consternation, as though looking into an abyss, blanched, ashen, white as a sheet*, frightened to death*, scared to death*, scared stiff*, out of one's wits*, out of one's senses*, in a funk*.
Antonyms brave*, unafraid, bold.

afraid is applied to a general feeling of fear or disquiet and is the broadest in application of all the words considered here to be afraid of the dark, to be afraid to die; frightened implies a sudden, usually temporary seizure of fear the child was frightened by the dog; timid implies a lack of courage or self-confidence and suggests overcautiousness or shyness too timid to ask for an explanation; fearful suggests a feeling of disquiet and a tendency to worry rather than an alarming fear fearful of making an error; timoroussuggests fearfulness and lack of confidence as a habitual state of mind raised a timorous objection; terrified implies intense, overwhelming fear he stood terrified as the tiger charged

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WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.