恐
fear; threaten; I'm afraid
Meanings
3 senses · 15 examplesverb
to fear; to be afraid of
neutralDescribes a feeling of fear towards a person, thing or situation.
He is not afraid of difficulties and has no panic at all.
Seeing the poisonous snake, she felt extremely frightened.
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He has something to rely on and is fearless, ignoring the rules completely.
Facing a strong enemy, the soldiers were reverent and fearful and dared not slack off.
Children usually have a fear of heights.
verb
to intimidate; to threaten
neutralMost commonly used in the fixed phrase 恐吓 to mean to threaten or intimidate someone.
The bad guys tried to intimidate passersby to rob money.
Don't use ghost stories to scare young children.
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After being threatened by gangsters, he did not dare to call the police.
Some people on the Internet use violent remarks to intimidate others.
Regulatory authorities severely crack down on intimidation and extortion.
adverb
I'm afraid; probably
formalUsed to express a cautious estimate or a negative possibility, often to soften a statement.
I'm afraid I won't be able to finish the task on time tomorrow.
I'm afraid there are other reasons why he didn't attend this meeting.
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This heavy rain will probably delay the flight.
With our current strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete this project.
I'm afraid you will have to resubmit this application.