as in worries
to experience concern or anxiety
her friends feared that she was dating a guy who was all wrong for her
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Recent Examples of fears
Now, Wall Street fears that software can do it all by itself.
—
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 13 Feb. 2026
Without the correct attributes — competitiveness, mindset, IQ, internal drive — Donovan fears a young player could flounder in Chicago.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
JPMorgan believes that software stocks, which have slumped in 2026 because of investor fears that artificial intelligence will undermine their business, have now fallen too far, creating an opportunity to buy higher-quality names at attractive valuations.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 10 Feb. 2026
But Seeley fears that a person’s appetite for drugs will return, too, which could prompt a recurrence of drug use.
—Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Without a replacement deal in place, Sokov fears an unrestrained arms race is likely — not right away, but in five to seven years from now — with the nations pursuing more accurate, sophisticated weapons that are harder to intercept, rather than just increasing warhead numbers.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
In the Super Bowl ad for Amazon‘s Alexa+ AI assistant, Chris Hemsworth fears that the AI is trying to kill him.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 5 Feb. 2026
Gold prices are impacted by a range of factors, and can rise on inflation fears one month, fall on strong economic data the next and then surge again based on geopolitical headlines.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Protests fuel censorship fears The outage overlapped with protests in Minneapolis, where federal authorities deployed thousands of agents in early January.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 26 Jan. 2026
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 13 Feb. 2026
Without the correct attributes — competitiveness, mindset, IQ, internal drive — Donovan fears a young player could flounder in Chicago.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
JPMorgan believes that software stocks, which have slumped in 2026 because of investor fears that artificial intelligence will undermine their business, have now fallen too far, creating an opportunity to buy higher-quality names at attractive valuations.
—Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 10 Feb. 2026
But Seeley fears that a person’s appetite for drugs will return, too, which could prompt a recurrence of drug use.
—Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Without a replacement deal in place, Sokov fears an unrestrained arms race is likely — not right away, but in five to seven years from now — with the nations pursuing more accurate, sophisticated weapons that are harder to intercept, rather than just increasing warhead numbers.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
In the Super Bowl ad for Amazon‘s Alexa+ AI assistant, Chris Hemsworth fears that the AI is trying to kill him.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 5 Feb. 2026
Gold prices are impacted by a range of factors, and can rise on inflation fears one month, fall on strong economic data the next and then surge again based on geopolitical headlines.
—Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Protests fuel censorship fears The outage overlapped with protests in Minneapolis, where federal authorities deployed thousands of agents in early January.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 26 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fears
worries
Verb
-
Wildfire worries As the warmth builds, dry, gusty winds will sweep across the High Plains this week, increasing the risk of wildfire ignition and rapid spread.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Even this newspaper story worries her.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fears. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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