- fear
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} nounADJECTIVE▪ big, deep, deep-seated, genuine, great, intense, overwhelming, pure, real, terrible, utter▪
My biggest fear was that my children would get sick.
▪It was the first time she had experienced real fear.
▪ worst▪ growing▪ general, widespread▪ constant, nagging▪the constant fear of discovery
▪ irrational, unfounded, unreasonable▪Our fears proved unfounded.
▪ legitimate, well-founded▪ primal▪the most primal fear, that of death
▪ mortal, paralysing/paralyzing▪ public▪Public fears about the disease increased.
▪ childhood▪the girl's childhood fear of being eaten by monsters
VERB + FEAR▪ experience, feel, have▪She did not know why she should feel such fear.
▪ be filled with, be gripped by, be paralysed/paralyzed by, be paralysed/paralyzed with, tremble with▪ express, show, voice▪The boy showed no fear.
▪Doctors have voiced fears that we may be facing an epidemic.
▪ confront, face▪ cause, inspire, instil/instill▪the fear that her mother had instilled in her
▪ fuel, heighten, raise, stoke▪This incident will fuel fears of a full-scale war.
▪This stoked fears of financial difficulties.
▪ exploit▪ confirm▪My worst fears were confirmed.
▪ allay, alleviate, assuage, calm, conquer, dispel, ease, overcome, quell▪The government is anxious to allay the public's fears.
▪She managed to overcome her fear.
▪ hide, maskFEAR + VERB▪ abate, subside▪When she heard the news, some of her fear subsided.
▪ grow (esp. BrE)▪Fears are growing of a new oil embargo.
▪ grip sb, haunt sb, overcome sb▪A sudden fear gripped him.
▪ course through sb, wash over sb, wash through sb▪ strike sbPREPOSITION▪ for fear of▪Nobody refused for fear of being fired.
▪ in fear▪He ran away in fear.
▪ in fear of▪The men hesitated in fear of whatever was to come next.
▪ out of fear▪He lied out of fear.
▪ through fear▪The students obeyed through fear of punishment.
▪ with fear▪His face was white with fear.
▪ without fear▪She stared at him without fear.
▪ fear about▪his fear about what might happen
▪ fear for▪my fear for her safety
▪ fear of▪They have a terrible fear of failure.
▪ fear over▪new fears over terrorism
PHRASES▪ fear and loathing▪ fear and trembling, fear and trepidation▪The men set off in fear and trepidation.
▪ live in▪The people live in fear of attack by the bandits.
▪ strike fear into (the heart of) sb▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}The sound of gunfire struck fear into the hearts of the villagers.
verbADVERB▪ genuinely, greatly, really▪This disease is greatly feared.
▪I really feared that this might be the end.
▪ rightly▪Everyone rightly feared the coming war.
VERB + FEAR▪ seem to▪ begin to▪ learn to▪He learned to fear and respect this force of nature.
PREPOSITION▪ for▪We feared for their safety.
PHRASES▪ have little to fear, have nothing to fear▪You have nothing to fear from him.
▪ have reason to fear sth▪ have no reason to fear sthFear is used with these nouns as the object: ↑answer, ↑backlash, ↑consequence, ↑death, ↑effect, ↑failure, ↑persecution, ↑rejection, ↑repercussion, ↑reprisal, ↑retaliation, ↑retribution, ↑worst, ↑wrath
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
