deep-lying fear
- noun
- Therapy helped her confront her deep-lying fears from childhood.
Examples
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His deep-lying fears often prevent him from taking risks.
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Many people have deep-lying fears that affect their everyday decisions.
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The novel explores the deep-lying fear of abandonment.
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She has a deep-lying fear of rejection.
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Many people have deep-lying fears that affect their everyday decisions.
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The novel explores the deep-lying fear of abandonment.
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Therapy helped her confront her deep-lying fears from childhood.
Synonyms
1
5.8
A strong feeling of worry that lasts a long time and is hard to change
Antonyms
How Deep-Seated
Surface Forms
Morphology
deep-lying + fear
The phrase is compositionally built from 'deep' (deep) + 'lying' (lying deep / situated), so the intended sense of a fear that lies deep beneath awareness is directly suggested by the parts. However, 'lying' can be ambiguous (e.g. to tell lies vs. to be situated) and 'deep-lying' is less common than alternatives like 'deep-seated', so a B1 learner who knows the words may not reliably infer the precise metaphorical locative sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrase deep-lying fear gives the picture of a fear that sits deep and is lying under the surface, like something buried out of sight. So, because it stays hidden, it quietly affects what a person thinks and does, and it means a 'hidden' fear that shapes behavior.