B1 an unpleasant emotion or thought that you have when you are frightened or worried by something dangerous, painful, or bad that is happening or might happen:
I have a fear of heights.
[ + that ] There are fears that the disease will spread to other countries.
be in fear of your life
› to be frightened that you might be killed:
be no fear of sth informal
› to be no possibility that a particular thing will happen:
for fear that/of sth
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
B2 [ T; not continuous ] to be frightened of something or someone unpleasant:
Most older employees fear unemployment.
What do you fear most?
B2 [ T; not continuous ] formal to be worried or frightened that something bad might happen or might have happened:
[ + (that) ] Police fear (that) the couple may have drowned.
formal It is feared (that) as many as two hundred passengers may have died in the crash.
[ + to infinitive ] Fearing to go herself, she sent her son to find out the news.
I fear formal mainly UK
More examples
- He reassured people that law-abiding citizens would have nothing to fear from the enquiries.
- It was feared that the break-up of the oil tanker would result in further pollution.
- The police feared that the crowd were becoming disorderly and so they moved in with horses.
- The committee kept the results of the survey to itself, fearing a bad public reaction.
- The government fears that talking to terrorists might legitimize their violent actions.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
