different between hideous vs fearful
hideous
English
Etymology
From Middle English hidous, from Anglo-Norman hidous, from Old French hideus, hydus (“that which inspires terror”), from earlier hisdos, from Old French hisda (“horror, fear”), of uncertain and disputed origin. Probably from Proto-West Germanic *agisiþu (“horror, terror”), from Proto-West Germanic *agis?n (“to frighten, terrorise”), from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?eg?- (“to frighten”). Cognate with Old High German egisa, egid? (“horror”), Old English egesa (“fear, dread”), Gothic ???????????????? (agis, “fear, terror”).
Alternative etymology cites possible derivation from Latin hispidosus (“rugged”), from hispidus (“rough, bristly”), yet the semantic evolution is less plausible.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?h?d.i?.?s/
- (US) IPA(key): /?h?d.i.?s/
Adjective
hideous (comparative more hideous, superlative most hideous)
- Extremely or shockingly ugly.
- Thomas Babington Macaulay.
- A piteous and hideous spectacle.
- Having a very unpleasant or frightening sound
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- He started up, growling at first, but finding his leg broken, fell down again; and then got upon three legs, and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard.
- 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
- Hateful; shocking.
- Morally offensive; shocking; detestable.
Usage notes
- Nouns to which "hideous" is often applied: monster, creature, man, woman, face, thing, crime, form, death, aspect, spectacle, picture, roar, sound, manner, way, disease, mistake, shape, dress, fact, act, smile.
Synonyms
- frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, grotesque, horrid, dreadful, terrible
Derived terms
- hideosity
- hideously
- hideousness
Translations
Middle English
Adjective
hideous
- Alternative form of hidous (“terrifying”)
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fearful
English
Alternative forms
- fearefull (obsolete)
- fearfull (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English ferful, fervol, equivalent to fear +? -ful.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?f??f?l/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?f??f?l/
- Rhymes: -???f?l
- Hyphenation: fear?ful
Adjective
fearful (comparative fearfuller or fearfuler or more fearful, superlative fearfullest or fearfulest or most fearful)
- Frightening.
- Tending to fear; timid.
- a fearful boy
- (dated) Terrible; shockingly bad.
- (now rare) Frightened; filled with terror.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
- Those two great champions did attonce pursew / The fearefull damzell with incessant payns […]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
Synonyms
- (frightened): frightened, timid, timorous
- See also Thesaurus:afraid and Thesaurus:cowardly
Translations
Adverb
fearful (comparative more fearful, superlative most fearful)
- (dialect) Extremely; fearfully.
Further reading
- fearful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- fearful in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- Lauffer
fearful From the web:
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