fearful

«fearful» in Mova's school dictionary: afraid or worried that something bad will happen — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (fearful, more fearful, most fearful)

meaning for a pupil

1) Fearful means afraid or worried that something bad will happen. tree →

2) (old-fashioned) Fearful means frightening or terrible. tree →

3) (informal, old) Fearful can mean very great or very bad: «a fearful mess». tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories it describes a character's feeling: «a fearful look». In older books and the Bible it can describe frightening things. In everyday life people say «afraid» or «scared» more often. Phrases: «fearful of», «fearful that».

examples

• The fearful puppy hid under the bed. tree →
• She was fearful of the dark. tree →
• They were fearful that the bridge would break. tree →
• The children gave a fearful glance at the old house. tree →
• There was a fearful storm that night. tree →
• Don't be fearful — I'm here. tree →
• «Fear not,» said the angel to the fearful shepherds. tree →
• “Things!” he said. “Fearful and horrible, Billy! tree →

note

Adjective; adverb: fearfully; noun: fearfulness. One l at the end: fearful (the suffix «-ful» has one l). «Fearful of» something. Opposite: fearless, brave. Note the two opposite senses: a fearful person feels fear, but a fearful sight causes fear.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «fearful» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.