fears

Noun

fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)

1. (uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
   • He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
2. (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular.
   • Not everybody has the same fears.
3. (countable) Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear.
   • Spiders are my greatest fear.
4. (uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
   • The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm CXI:10

   Synonyms:

   dread

5. (UK, with-definite-article, "the fear") A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.
   • Her feeling of humiliation had intensified as the day had gone on and her hangover had worsened. She now also had 'the fear' to contend with, […]2019, Ruth Kelly, The Little Vineyard in Provence

   Synonyms:

   hangxiety

See all 15 meanings of fear