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PlainSpell

fear

UK /fɪə/noun, verb, adjective

fear is spelled F-E-A-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fear means “A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fear is fears.

How many letters and syllables are in fear?

Letters4: F-E-A-R
Syllables1
In writing89 times per million words; the 1,191st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is fear?

Fear appears 89 times per million words in written English, the 1,191st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce fear?

  • UK /fɪə/
  • UK [fɪə̯]
  • British /fɪː/

Fear has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-fear.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-fear.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with fear

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

fair vs fear0 B

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with fear?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fear from its last stressed vowel (/ɪə/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: fare, faer.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of fear

  • fears plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • fearing participle, present
  • feared participle, past
  • more fear comparative
  • most fear superlative
  • feer

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fear mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.

    He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.

  2. 2

    A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular.

    Not everybody has the same fears.

  3. 3

    Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear.

    Spiders are my greatest fear.

  4. 4

    Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.

  5. 5

    UKA feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.

verb

  1. 1

    To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm.

    I fear the worst will happen.

  2. 2

    To feel fear.

    Never fear; help is always near.

  3. 3

    To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for [with for].

    She fears for her son’s safety.

  4. 4

    To venerate; to feel awe towards.

    People who fear God can be found in Christian churches.

  5. 5

    To regret.

    I fear I have bad news for you: your husband has died.

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo cause fear to; to frighten.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo be anxious or solicitous for.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo suspect; to doubt.

adjective

  1. 1

    Able; capable; stout; strong; sound.

    hale and fear

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate fear?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of fear: FUD.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpeur, crainte (uncountable: emotion caused by actual or…), craindre, avoir peur (de) (feel fear about (something))
GermanAngst, Furcht, Angscht, Engschti (uncountable: emotion caused by actual or…), fürchten, Angst haben vor (feel fear about (something))
Portuguesemedo, temor, receio (uncountable: emotion caused by actual or…), temer (feel fear about (something)), fobia, pavor (a phobia; sense of fear induced by something or…)
Spanishmiedo, temor, pavor, pavura (uncountable: emotion caused by actual or…), temer, tener miedo de (feel fear about (something))

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fear come from?

From Middle English feer, fere, fer (“fear”), from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fērō, *fērą (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through, carry forth, try”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after fear