afraid
∞
1.0
- adjective
- /əˈfreɪd/
:
me temo
- - This is exactly what I was afraid of.
- I'm afraid to say
Also if you get oily eyelids I'm afraid it's a must.
- Also if you get oily eyelids I'm afraid it's a must.
- I don't know, I'm afraid I I think I've said it all.
- I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
- And two, I'm afraid, as FDR said, a fear itself.
Examples
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I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
-
- I'm afraid I don't understand.
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I'm afraid we have some bad news.
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I'm afraid my answer's still no.
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I'm afraid the school will have to suspend her.
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I'm afraid so.
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"We have to figure out how to stop Everett." "I'm afraid there's nothing more to be done."
Fiction book (1990) -
If we don't handle the matter with extreme care, I'm afraid we're in for a major eruption.
Fiction book (1990) -
With the fair nearly here, I'm afraid I've waited too long to mollify her.
Fiction book (1990) -
I'm afraid we have some bad news for you.
Synonyms
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1.0
Feeling regret for something you did
Idioms
- Informal
1
8.4
Very easily frightened and nervous, often jumping at small noises
Compounds
How Apologetic
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1.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
afraid = fear (semi-transparent) = a + fraid
The polite usage 'I'm afraid I can't...' is a conventionalized, euphemistic extension of expressing fear/regret rather than a literal compositional derivation.
Etymology
Afraid comes from the old parts a- meaning 'in' and fear, so it originally meant 'in fear'. A helpful way to remember the polite use, as in 'I'm afraid I can't', is to think of it as a soft, worried way to give bad news.