afeared
2
9.9
- adjective
- Archaic
- As the storm raged outside, he felt afeared for his family's safety.
Examples
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I'm not afeared of no man.
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I'm afeared there are few die well... that die in a battle... for how can they charitably dispose of anything... when blood is their argument?
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- We was afeared you might be a pirate.
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I ain't afeared of nothing!
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My daughter is sometime afeared that she will do a desperate outrage to herself.
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So, afeared of the spirit in the attic, you partook of the spirit in the cellar.
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The fog be thick and ghost-like, but don't be afeared, Sister.
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I'm afeared I might scuff up the floors with this old cribbage peg.
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Uh, you see, l'm only afeared that he might be dead, and never realize what a fine figure of an orphink l turned out to be.
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Sway up on them halyards... and you needn't be afeared of parting them.
Synonyms
343
1.0
Being afraid because something seems dangerous
3
9.9
An old dialect word meaning feeling scared or worried
1
9.9
Feeling afraid of something
Antonyms
How Afraid
Surface Forms
Morphology
afeared = feared (semi-transparent) = a + fear + ed
The meaning remains connected to 'feared', but the archaic adjectival prefix 'a-' is not productive in modern English and may not be obvious to learners.
Etymology
Afeared comes from the old prefix a- plus the word fear, so it originally meant 'in fear' or 'full of fear'. It is a mainly dialect and old form like afraid, which is why afeared means 'frightened' today.