| 释义 |
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.)
1330R. Brunne Chron. 16 Þe Kyng was alle affraied. Ibid. 323 Alle frayed he went fro þat cite. c1386Chaucer Shipman's T. 400 This wyf was nat afered ne afrayed. c1420Anturs of Arther xxxi. 9 (1842) 15 The freson was afrayet, and ferd of that fare. 1440Promp. Parv., Affrayed, territus. c1500Lancelot 3469 So sal thai fynd we ar no-thing affrayt. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 101 If Cæsar hide himselfe, shall they not whisper Loe, Cæsar is affraid? 1653Holcroft Procopius ii. 54 The Roman army..were troubled and affraid. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 759 Back they recoild affraid. 1864Browning Dram. Pers. 77, Trust God: see all, nor be afraid! 1872J. Doolittle Chinese Vocab. II. 684/2 Those that came were not afraid: those that were afraid did not come. 1915T. 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).
1350Will. Palerne 2158 He þat of þe white beres So bremli was afraied. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour f i, His wyf made semblaunt as she therof were affrayed. 1599H. Buttes Diets Dry Dinner (Arb.) 92 Such as are affrayed of roasted Pigge. 1667Milton 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. 1678Bunyan Pilgrim i. (1862) 124, I was afraid on't at the very first. 1855Kingsley 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.
1535Coverdale Ex. iii. 6 Moses couered his face, for he was afrayed to loke vpon God [Wyclif, He darst not loke aȝens God]. 1580Sidney Arcadia iii. 317 They were affraid even to crie. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 47 We are lesse afraid to be drownde then thou art. 1716–18Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. x. 37 To see me afraid to handle a gun. c1735Pope Prol. to Sat. 203 Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike. 1850McCosh 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.
1530Palsg. 422/1 He was as a frayde as any man you sawe this twelve monethes that I wolde have gyven hym a blowe. 1535Coverdale 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. 1596Shakes. 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. 1635A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 98, I was affraide it would have infected my other bookes. a1678H. 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. 1709Addison Let. 14 Dec. (1941) 197, I am afraid if this matter comes on it will be necessary to have Copys of the Office Books. 1740Gray Let. 16 July (1900) I. 76 Disagreeable enough (as most necessities are) but, I am afraid, unavoidable. 1813Jane Austen Pride & Prej. I. x. 104, I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague iii. iv. 39 Perhaps thou art afraid Lest the night air may spoil its beauty. 1847Lewes 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. 1853Mrs. Gaskell Cranford iii. 47, I did many a thing she did not like, I'm afraid—and now she's gone! 1911F. Swinnerton Casement vi. 209 ‘I'm afraid,’ said he, rather stiffly, ‘that I don't know anything about his habits.’ 1959Observer 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.
1727Swift Gulliver ii. viii. 174, I was affraid of trampling on every traveller that I met. 1855Brewster 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. |