Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "afraid" []

  • Filled with fear: afraid of ghosts; afraid to die; afraid for his life. (adjective)
  • Having feelings of aversion or unwillingness in regard to something: not afraid of hard work; afraid to show emotion. (adjective)
  • Filled with regret or concern. Used especially to soften an unpleasant statement: I'm afraid you're wrong. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "afraid" in a sentence
  • "Well if Hope/Change/Hope/Change is a broken record what the heck is * be afraid, be very afraid*?"
  • ""Captain, we have had hard times of it out there, but _don't be afraid, don't be afraid_.""
  • "Let him go, and he will walk the streets with a swagger, and boast that you were afraid to touch him -- _afraid_, gentlemen -- and children and women will point after him as the man who has sent nine others into eternity, and who yet walks the streets a free man."