Afraid
adjectiveFeeling fear or anxiety; frightened by something, or reluctant and regretful about a situation.
How to spell afraid
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce afraid
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does afraid mean?
- adjectiveFeeling fear or anxiety; frightened by something, or reluctant and regretful about a situation.
Afraid in a sentence
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Many adults are still afraid of visiting the dentist.
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She was afraid that the train would leave before she reached the platform.
Where does afraid come from?
Language of origin: French
The word afraid comes from the Old French verb effrayer, meaning 'to frighten' or 'to disturb', which English absorbed in the Middle Ages as affray. Afraid began life as the past participle 'affraied', literally 'having been frightened', and over time it froze into a standalone adjective meaning 'filled with fear'. The Old French root traces back to a Vulgar Latin form built on the idea of breaking peace or causing alarm, and the same family gave English the noun 'affray', meaning a public brawl or disturbance. The single 'f' in the modern spelling is the trap, since the older form once carried a doubled consonant; today only one survives. Afraid is also unusual in being one of the few English adjectives that resists standing before a noun, so we say 'a frightened child' but 'the child was afraid'.
How the word is built
- a- (intensive prefix from Old French)
- fraid (past participle of affray: to frighten, disturb)
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