afraid
/əˈfɹɛd/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.70 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
adj
Regretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.
Example Sentences
- "He is afraid of death."
- "He is afraid to ask her out."
- "He is afraid of the future."
- "I’m not afraid of telling / to tell you the truth: I'm reluctant to go in you car because I’m too afraid of crashing."
- "I went through the worst Ku Klux proposition in the country at the time it was at its height. And I had to go down to the Ku Klux meeting and tell them what I thought of them, and I wasn't afraid of them at all. And I'm not afraid of this situation because I think it'll work out in a way that when these people sit down and get a chance to think and study the situation, they're going to be ashamed of some of the things they've done."
- "I am afraid I cannot help you in this matter."
Etymology
From Middle English affrayed, affraied, past participle of afraien (“to affray”), from Anglo-Norman afrayer (“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”), from Old French effreer, esfreer (“to disturb, remove the peace from”), from es- (“out”) + freer (“to secure, secure the peace”), from Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *prāy-, *prēy- (“to like, love”). By surface analysis, affray + -ed. Compare also afeard. More at free, friend.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈfɹɛd/
Inflected Forms
more afraid (comparative)
most afraid (superlative)
affrayed (alternative, obsolete)
'fraid (alternative)