Impressed with fear or apprehension; fearful: followed by of before the object of fear, where that is not an infinitive: as, to be afraid of death; I am afraid to go.Synonyms Afraid, Frightened, Terrified, timid, shy, apprehensive, troubled, suspicious, distrustful. Afraid expresses a less degree of fear than frightened or terrified, which describe outward states. In colloquial language, I am afraid is often nearly equivalent to I suspect, I am inclined to think, or the like, and is regularly used as a kind of polite introduction to a correction, objection, etc., or to make a statement sound less positive: as, I am afraid you are wrong; I am afraid that argument won't hold.