FEARED Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

feared

verb

Definition of feared

past tense of fear

as in worried

to experience concern or anxiety her friends feared that she was dating a guy who was all wrong for her

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of feared In the immediate aftermath of Jose’s arrest, his family feared he would be quickly deported. — Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026 On Thursday alone, the maker of Kleenex and Huggies reported better-than-feared preliminary results for its third quarter, and Chinese authorities pushed back on social-media claims that have hurt diaper sales in the country. — Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026 But once Moscow demonstrated its ability to launch intercontinental rockets, Europeans feared that the United States would no longer be willing to use nuclear weapons to prevent a Soviet invasion of Europe. — Ivo H. Daalder, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2026 Although she was initially brought on as a part-time panelist — and Walters, according to Ramin Setoodeh’s book on the show’s history, Ladies Who Punch, feared Behar might All About Eve her — Behar was soon given a permanent seat at the table. — Brock Colyar, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026 Native American leaders feared the state's largest Dakota language archives had been lost. — Eric Henderson, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026 The lesson of social media is not that transformative technologies should be feared. — Staff, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026 The officers feared one of these unvetted women might be carrying a recorder to set up in a bedroom, or, worse, might take it upon herself to harm the president or someone in his inner circle. — Laurence Leamer, Vanity Fair, 14 Oct. 2026 At the root of witch persecution was the notion that witches’ sexuality was the thing most to be feared about them, the thing most urgently to be tested, chastened, and destroyed. — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for feared

worried

Verb

More than half of people using AI at work worried that using it on important tasks would create exactly that impression.

— Christoph Trattner, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
At the very start of the pandemic, while most Americans were hunkered down, frightened for their lives and worried about job loss, RealPage hosted a virtual pep talk for landlords.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of worried

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fear

feared

fearful

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“Feared.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/feared. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of feared

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