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Glite Dictionary
scared of

scared of

348 1.0
Feeling afraid of things like the dark or loud noises and wanting to avoid them
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : tener miedo a
  • I am no longer scared of bees and or spiders.
  • scared of people

I've always been scared of it in a relationship.

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Examples

  • At the stables, she was sometimes a bit scared of the big and unpredictable animals.

    Academic text (2018)

  • I was scared of this.

    People Like Us (2012)

  • And I used to be really scared of it until I did this.

  • I had saved so hard because I was so scared of losing what I had.

  • I mean I was scared of you!

    Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

  • You were the only one we were really scared of... and instead you were almost playing on our team.

    Double Indemnity (1944)

  • I'm scared of the dark.

    Tron (1982)

  • Charlie picks up the pace, scared of what he might hear next.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The dogs are getting crazy, anxious, fearful and scared of those fireworks.

  • I'm scared of the dark and need a night light to help me sleep.

Synonyms

afraid
vsscared of
∞ 1.0

Feeling fear or worry about something

is fear specifically aimed at a person or thing rather than general worry
scared
vsscared of
∞ 1.0

Feeling afraid because you think something bad might happen

is fear directed specifically toward a person or thing
terrified
vsscared of
263 2.1

Feeling very afraid because you think something bad will happen

is fear toward someone or something but usually at a lower intensity
fearful
vsscared of
143 1.3

Feeling afraid or nervous and easily frightened

is fear focused on a specific person or thing rather than a general tendency
apprehensive
vsscared of
36 5.0

Feeling worried that something bad will happen

is fear directed at a specific person or thing rather than future worry
petrified
vsscared of
29 4.6

So frightened that you cannot move or think clearly

is fear aimed at a person or thing but without the frozen reaction
frightened
vsscared of
3 1.0

Being afraid because something seems dangerous

is fear that points to a particular person or object rather than general alarm

Antonyms

fearless
117 3.4

Shows courage in dangerous or hard situations

unafraid
29 1.6

Not feeling fear or worry when facing danger

How Afraid

scared of
348 1.0
uneasy
98 3.2
unafraid
29 1.6

Surface Forms

scared of positive

Morphology

scared + of

The adjective 'scared' already means frightened and the preposition 'of' marks the source or object of that fear, so the phrase 'scared of X' directly means 'frightened by X'. This composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g. 'afraid of' equivalents), so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Scared of comes from the simple image of someone jumping back when something frightens them: you are scared and you move away from the thing, so you are scared of it. So it means 'frightened or afraid of'.