What does fearful mean?
Fearful is an adjective with two closely related strands of meaning. Most often it describes a person or creature that is afraid: someone fearful of failure dreads it and feels anxious about it. Applied to things, it means frightening, dreadful, or terrible — a fearful storm, a fearful cry. A third, more informal use treats the word as an intensifier meaning extreme or very great, as in 'a fearful mess' or 'at a fearful cost', a sense now heard more often in British English than American. The word derives from the Old English noun 'fær', meaning danger or sudden calamity, combined with the adjectival suffix '-ful', so its literal sense is simply 'full of fear'. Its connotations range from genuine terror to mere apprehension, depending on context. It remains useful precisely because it covers that span, from quiet unease to outright dread, whether describing the one who trembles or the thing that causes the trembling.
Feeling fear; frightened or anxious about something.
"He was fearful of making a mistake in front of the whole class."
Causing fear; dreadful, alarming, or terrible.
"The refugees described the fearful conditions they had fled."
Extreme or very great in degree; used informally as an intensifier.
"Getting the car repaired turned into a fearful expense."
This intensifying sense is somewhat dated and chiefly British.
Tyger Tyger burning bright — Blake's famous 'fearful symmetry' helped make this one of poetry's most quoted adjectives.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fearful
Fearful comes from the Old English noun 'fær', meaning danger, peril, or sudden calamity, which also gave English the word 'fear' itself. The adjective was formed within English by adding the suffix '-ful', meaning 'full of', so it originally meant quite literally 'full of fear'. It has been used since the Middle English period, with written evidence dating back to around the thirteenth century. Related forms such as 'fearsome' and 'frightful' grew from the same root family, all expressing alarm or dread.
Related word forms
How fearful is actually used
In modern usage 'fearful' most commonly appears in the pattern 'fearful of + noun/gerund'. When applied to things rather than people it usually means dreadful or alarming. The intensifying sense ('a fearful lot') is somewhat old-fashioned and chiefly British.
Easily confused with fearful
'Fearsome' describes something that inspires fear in others (a fearsome opponent), while 'fearful' more often describes the person who feels fear, though both can mean dreadful or extreme.