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to feel unsafe

to feel unsafe

7 3.8
To be afraid because you think you are not safe
  • phrasal verb
  • /fiːl ʌnˈseɪf/
translation icon : sentirse inseguro
  • The last thing they want is for foreigners to feel unsafe in their country.
  • students feel unsafe at school
  • students feel unsafe

And so some people when they feel unsafe, they run away.

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Examples

  • Over 60% of LGBT students have reported feeling unsafe in their school environment.

    Blog text (17)
  • There are people who feel unsafe in their communities.

  • You know I have felt unsafe when meeting up with a date.

  • And you should never feel unsafe.

  • Students often reported feeling unsafe in locations where no adults were present.

    Academic text (2011)
  • A sexual-assault survivor wrote about feeling unsafe walking alone at night.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Academic success does not buffer students from risky behavior or from feeling unsafe.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Counsel responders to leave the premises immediately if they feel unsafe.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Afro-American students often are uncomfortable and may feel unsafe in their school environments and in their travels to and from school.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Many working women have good reason to feel unsafe about asking for a raise.

Antonyms

117 3.6

Feeling confident and free from worry or doubt

Surface Forms

feel unsafe infinitive
feeling unsafe present participle
feels unsafe third person singular
felt unsafe past participle

Morphology

feel + unsafe

The meaning 'to experience a sense of insecurity' is directly derivable from combining 'feel' (to experience) with 'unsafe' (not safe); the pattern 'feel + adjective' transparently signals an internal state. This straightforward composition is cross-linguistically common and a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

The phrase feel unsafe comes from a simple image: when danger is near your body gives a warning — you feel cold or tense and your hair may stand up, so you know you are unsafe. That's why feel unsafe means 'to not be safe'.