Synonyms and antonyms of To be, or to become afraid or frightened in British Thesaurus

scare (verb)

to become frightened or worried

be/live in dread of ()

to be continuously afraid of someone or something

panic (verb)

to have a sudden strong feeling of fear or worry and be unable to think clearly or calmly or decide what to do

have a horror of (doing) something ()

to be very frightened of something

take fright ()

to be suddenly frightened by something and want to get away from it

live in fear (of) ()

to be afraid of something or someone all the time

quail (verb)

literary to be very afraid, often so afraid that your body shakes slightly

quake (verb)

to feel so afraid that your body shakes slightly

chicken out ()

to not do something you were going to do because you are too frightened

fear (verb)

to feel worried and afraid that something bad will happen or has already happened

be riveted to the spot ()

to be so frightened or surprised that you cannot move

bottle it ()

to not do something because you do not feel brave enough

bottle out ()

to not do something because you do not feel brave enough

bug out (informal)

informal to become too frightened to do something

fear (verb)

to feel afraid of someone or something because they might harm you

fear the worst ()

to believe that something very bad has probably happened or probably will happen

get the wind up ()

to become nervous or frightened

knot (verb)

literary if your stomach knots or is knotted, it gets an unpleasant tight feeling caused by fear or worry about what will happen

lose your nerve ()

to suddenly become too frightened to do something that you intended to do

nearly/almost wet yourself ()

to be very frightened

quake/shake in your boots ()

to feel very afraid

recoil (verb)

to feel very strongly that something is frightening or unpleasant

shake in your boots/shoes ()

to be afraid of something

shake like a leaf ()

to shake a lot, for example because you are cold, nervous, or afraid

shit yourself (impolite)

impolite to be extremely frightened

spook (verb)

informal to suddenly feel frightened or nervous

take fright ()

to suddenly feel that you do not want to be involved with something

wimp out ()

to decide not to do something because you are frightened or not confident

your skin crawls ()

if your skin crawls, you suddenly feel uncomfortable because you are frightened or shocked or because you dislike someone very much