for fear of

idiom

: due to being afraid of
He won't say anything for fear of losing his job.

Examples of for fear of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Some have been avoiding them for fear of aftershocks. Aida Alami, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2023 One farmworker, who witnessed the incident and asked not to be identified for fear of losing her job, told The Times that one of the work crews was asked to finish picking the field that Sanchez and her crew had been tasked with that day. Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023 The Department of Justice has a different theory: That Google was way ahead in generative AI and chose not to release the technology sooner for fear of losing its monopoly in search. Davey Alba, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2023 The episode also includes interviews with the musician’s cousin and niece, who say that the family refrained from exposing Sainte-Marie’s true parentage for fear of financial reprisal. Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Oct. 2023 But analysts say the Biden administration has stayed clear of striking targets in Iraq for fear of inflaming the political situation in the country, where the U.S. still has 2,500 troops to mentor Iraqi forces who are fighting Islamic State militants. Michael R. Gordon, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023 In first public comments since stalking allegations, top LAPD official denies wrongdoing Oct. 17, 2023 Friends of the detective agreed to to share their recollections of conversations with him on the condition that their names not be used for fear of retribution. Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2023 Anna asked to only be identified by her first name for fear of backlash from other X users. WIRED, 17 Oct. 2023 As a result, groups are fighting to keep programs that specifically benefit Black entrepreneurs, and other organizations are weighing whether to downplay their own diversity initiatives for fear of being targeted with lawsuits. Char Adams, NBC News, 17 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'for fear of.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near for fear of

Cite this Entry

“For fear of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/for%20fear%20of. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!