scared

/skɛrd/

afraid or frightened

The dog was scared by the loud thunder.

The dog felt afraid because of the loud thunder.

informal

feeling fear or anxiety due to a perceived threat or danger

She was scared to walk home alone at night.

She felt afraid to walk home alone at night.

The child was scared of the dark.

The child felt frightened by the dark.

Often used to describe a temporary or situational fear.

Collocations

scared ofafraid of something or someonescared to deathextremely frightenedscared stiffcompletely frozen with fear

a person who is easily frightened

to frighten someone extremely

'Scared' is often used in everyday language to describe a temporary or situational fear, such as being scared of spiders or scared of the dark.

'Scared' is an adjective, not a verb. To express the action of frightening someone, use 'scare' (e.g., 'The noise scared the cat').

From Middle English 'scared', past participle of 'scaren' (to frighten), of uncertain origin.

Often used in informal contexts to describe a mild to moderate level of fear. Can be used as an adjective or past participle.

scare

to frighten

root

-ed

past participle suffix

suffix

English Dictionary