Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

fearful

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of fearful

1 causing fear

  • the fearful roar of a lion
Synonyms of fearful

alarming, dire, direful, dread, dreadful, fearsome, forbidding, formidable, frightening, frightful, ghastly, hair-raising, horrendous, horrible, horrifying, intimidating, redoubtable, scary, shocking, spine-chilling, terrible, terrifying
Words Related to fearful

daunting, demoralizing, disconcerting, discouraging, dismaying, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing, startling, threatening, troubling, trying, unnerving

bone-chilling, creepy, eerie (also eery), weird

appalling, atrocious, awful, grisly, gruesome (also grewsome), hideous, horrid, macabre, monstrous, nightmarish
Near Antonyms of fearful

calming, comforting, consoling, inviting, lulling, pacifying, quieting, reassuring, relaxing, soothing, tranquilizing (also tranquillizing)

nonintimidating, nonthreatening

2 easily frightened

  • the stray cat that we took in is still fearful, even around us
Synonyms of fearful

fainthearted, fearsome, mousy (or mousey), scary, shy, skittish, timid, timorous, tremulous
Words Related to fearful

chicken, chickenhearted, chicken-livered, cowardly, craven, dastardly, gutless, lily-livered, milk-livered [archaic], poltroon, pusillanimous, spineless, unheroic, yellow

jittery, jumpy, spooky

anxious, apprehensive, nervous

afraid, alarmed, horrified, panicked, panicky, panic-stricken, scared, shocked, spooked, startled, terrified, terrorized, unnerved
Near Antonyms of fearful

brave, courageous, dauntless, doughty, fearless, gallant, greathearted, heroic (also heroical), intrepid, lionhearted, stalwart, stout, stouthearted, undaunted, valiant, valorous

assured, confident, self-assured, self-confident

determined, firm, game, plucky, resolute, undeterred, unflinching, unswerving

mettlesome, spirited, spunky
Antonyms of fearful

adventuresome, adventurous, audacious, bold, daring, dashing, gutsy, hardy, venturesome, venturous

3 extreme in degree, power, or effect

  • the fearful wind and cold simply made being outside a miserable experience
Synonyms of fearful

acute, almighty, blistering, deep, dreadful, excruciating, explosive, exquisite, fearsome, ferocious, fierce, frightful, furious, ghastly, hard, heavy, heavy-duty, hellacious, intense, intensive, keen, profound, terrible, vehement, vicious, violent
Words Related to fearful

accentuated, aggravated, concentrated, deepened

emphasized, enhanced, heightened, intensified, magnified

stressed

exhaustive, thorough

harsh, rigorous, severe
Near Antonyms of fearful

feeble, weak

shallow, superficial

moderated, qualified

alleviated, eased, lightened, toned (down)

abated, decreased, diminished, lessened, reduced, subdued
Antonyms of fearful

light, moderate, soft

4 filled with fear or dread

  • fearful of venturing out onto the dark highway, the stranded motorist decided to wait in the car for help
Synonyms of fearful

affrighted, afraid, aghast, alarmed, frightened, horrified, horror-struck, hysterical (also hysteric), scared, scary, shocked, spooked, terrified, terrorized
Words Related to fearful

chicken, fainthearted, fearsome, shrinking, shy, timid, timorous, tremulant, tremulous

agitated, anxious, apprehensive, disconcerted, disquieted, disturbed, funky, jittery, jumpy, nervous, panicked, panicky, panic-stricken, perturbed, skittish, uneasy, upset, worried

phobic

appalled, dismayed, startled

cowed, daunted, intimidated, unnerved

coward, cowardly, craven, gutless, lily-livered, pusillanimous

careful, cautious, heedful, prudent, unadventurous, wary
Near Antonyms of fearful

adventuresome, adventurous, audacious, bold, daredevil, daring, dashing, gutsy, plucky, spirited, spunky, venturesome, venturous

brave, courageous, gallant, hardy, heroic (also heroical), intrepid, lionhearted, manful, stalwart, stout, stouthearted, valiant, valorous

assured, collected, composed, confident, cool, sanguine, sure, unperturbed

dauntless, resolute, undaunted
Antonyms of fearful

fearless, unafraid

Synonym Discussion of fearful

fearful, apprehensive, afraid mean disturbed by fear. fearful implies often a timorous or worrying temperament.
    • the child is fearful of loud noises
apprehensive suggests a state of mind and implies a premonition of evil or danger.
    • apprehensive of being found out
afraid often suggests weakness or cowardice and regularly implies inhibition of action or utterance.
    • afraid to speak the truth

Learn More about fearful

  1. See words that rhyme with fearful Dictionary: Definition of fearful Spanish Central: Translation of fearful Nglish: Translation of fearful for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fearful for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fearful? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

WORD OF THE DAY

exculpate

to clear from alleged fault or guilt

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. gaslight It is a word, though.

  2. invasion CNN reporter questions President.

  3. relevancy Ariana Grande slams ex-fiancé.

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games