- 1(formal) nervous and afraid fearful (for somebody) Parents are always fearful for their children. fearful (of something/of doing something) fearful of an attack Fearful of continued unrest, the government imposed a state of emergency. fearful (that…) She was fearful that she would fail.
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- 2[only before noun] (formal) terrible and frightening
NAmE//ˈfɪrfəli//
adverb We watched fearfully. NAmE//ˈfɪrflnəs//
noun [uncountable]See fearful in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: fearful