afraid, ppl. a.
(əˈfreɪd)
Forms: 4 afraied, affraied, 4–6 affrayed, 4–7 affraid(e, 5 afrayet, affrayt, 5–6 afrayed, 6 affrayd, afrayd(e, 6– afraid. Also aphet. frayed, fraid.
[Orig. pa. pple. of afray, affray v. (cf. lay, laid; say, said, etc.) which, being more used than any other part, acquired an independent standing, and has retained the spelling afraid, while the vb. is affray.]
1. As pple. Alarmed, frightened; hence as adj., In a state of fear or apprehension, moved or actuated by fear. (As an adj. it never stands before a noun.)
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 16 Þe Kyng was alle affraied. Ibid. 323 Alle frayed he went fro þat cite. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 400 This wyf was nat afered ne afrayed. c 1420 Anturs of Arther xxxi. 9 (1842) 15 The freson was afrayet, and ferd of that fare. 1440 Promp. Parv., Affrayed, territus. c 1500 Lancelot 3469 So sal thai fynd we ar no-thing affrayt. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 101 If Cæsar hide himselfe, shall they not whisper Loe, Cæsar is affraid? 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. 54 The Roman army..were troubled and affraid. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 759 Back they recoild affraid. 1864 Browning Dram. Pers. 77, Trust God: see all, nor be afraid! 1872 J. Doolittle Chinese Vocab. II. 684/2 Those that came were not afraid: those that were afraid did not come. 1915 T. S. Eliot in Poetry VI. 132 And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid. |
2. Const. a. with of (sometimes omitted before a clause).
| 1350 Will. Palerne 2158 He þat of þe white beres So bremli was afraied. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour f i, His wyf made semblaunt as she therof were affrayed. 1599 H. Buttes Diets Dry Dinner (Arb.) 92 Such as are affrayed of roasted Pigge. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 117, I..of thy voice Affraid, being naked, hid my self. Ibid. xii. 493 What man can do against thee, not affraid. 1678 Bunyan Pilgrim i. (1862) 124, I was afraid on't at the very first. 1855 Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 442 He first taught me not to be afraid of truth. |
b. with inf. In fear of the consequence (to oneself) of; not having courage to.
| 1535 Coverdale Ex. iii. 6 Moses couered his face, for he was afrayed to loke vpon God [Wyclif, He darst not loke aȝens God]. 1580 Sidney Arcadia iii. 317 They were affraid even to crie. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 47 We are lesse afraid to be drownde then thou art. 1716–18 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. x. 37 To see me afraid to handle a gun. c 1735 Pope Prol. to Sat. 203 Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. iv. ii. (1874) 498 Afraid to look upon the full purity of God. |
c. with depend. cl.: lest, with subjunctive, introduces a deprecated contingency of which there is danger; that, with subjunctive, an unpleasant possibility; with indicative, an unpleasant probability or contemplated reality. The conjunctions are sometimes omitted. I am (or I'm) afraid: often used colloq. with little or no implication of fear or danger, in the sense of ‘I regret to say; I regretfully or apologetically admit, report, etc.; I suspect; I am inclined to think’. Const. that, or simple clause.
| 1530 Palsg. 422/1 He was as a frayde as any man you sawe this twelve monethes that I wolde have gyven hym a blowe. 1535 Coverdale Tob. vi. 14, I am afrayed lest soch thinges happen vnto me also. [1611 Bible ibid., I am afraid, lest, if I goe in vnto her, I die.] ― 1 Macc. xii. 40 He was afrayed that Ionathas wolde not suffre him. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 47, I am much afraid my Ladie his mother plaid false. 1596 ― Tam. Shr. v. ii. 89, I am affraid sir, doe what you can Yours will not be entreated. 1635 A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 98, I was affraide it would have infected my other bookes. a 1678 H. Scougal Importance & Difficulty of Ministerial Function in Wks. (1765) 240 This..was the humour of some in his days; and I am afraid the case is not much better in ours. 1709 Addison Let. 14 Dec. (1941) 197, I am afraid if this matter comes on it will be necessary to have Copys of the Office Books. 1740 Gray Let. 16 July (1900) I. 76 Disagreeable enough (as most necessities are) but, I am afraid, unavoidable. 1813 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. I. x. 104, I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. iv. 39 Perhaps thou art afraid Lest the night air may spoil its beauty. 1847 Lewes Hist. Phil. ii. 313 He was afraid lest the poetical spirit should be swept away along with the prophetical. Mod. He is afraid that his dishonesty will be discovered. I am afraid that it is too true; afraid that we are not in time. We were afraid lest we should, or that we might hurt them. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford iii. 47, I did many a thing she did not like, I'm afraid—and now she's gone! 1911 F. Swinnerton Casement vi. 209 ‘I'm afraid,’ said he, rather stiffly, ‘that I don't know anything about his habits.’ 1959 Observer 14 June 22/6 It would be less kind, but true, I am afraid, to find in this book a quite invincible taste for the mediocre. |
d. of with gerund is found in all these senses, but chiefly = lest with subj., of which it is a more modern equivalent.
| 1727 Swift Gulliver ii. viii. 174, I was affraid of trampling on every traveller that I met. 1855 Brewster Newton II. xxiv. 337 He was afraid of being known as the author of the work. Mod. I am afraid of bathing there = to bathe there. I was afraid of treading on somebody's toes = lest I should tread. |