Boo! Did I scare you? Probably not, but I’m sure there is something out there that does scare you.  What is it?

Today’s post is all about being scared and what causes people to be scared.  To start out take a look at all these synonyms for the word scared:

frightened, afraid, fearful, startled, alarmed, intimidated, terrified, horrified, fear-stricken.

There are also a number of phrases we use in English to describe a person who is scared, these include:

scared out of one’s wits, frightened to death, full of fear, and scared sh*tless (this last one should only be used with people you know well as it includes a swear word).

Now that you know a lot of new ways to talk about a person who is scared let me teach you the English names for some common fears or phobias. A phobia is a very strong fear that lasts over a period of time. You may notice that most of these English words for fears are based on the Latin words that the fears represent. These words are just some of the many examples of how Latin has influenced English.

arachnophobia – the fear of spiders
ophidiophobia – the fear of snakes
acrophobia – the fear of heights
agoraphobia – the fear of crowded areas, open spaces, or situations that are likely to cause a panic attack (people with this fear often like to stay in their homes)
cynophobia – the fear of dogs
astraphobia – the fear of thunder and lightening
trypanophobia – the fear of injections or shots
social phobia – the fear of social situations and being around people
pteromerhanophobia – the fear of flying
mysophobia – the fear of germs or dirt

Now, I’m going to use a number of the words/expressions from above and some of the phobias in example sentences below.

1)    My sister is terrified of spiders. She has arachnophobia.
2)    My dog is scared sh*tless every time he hears thunder, so I guess he has astraphobia.
3)    James’ doctor told him that his mysophobia is getting out of control as he is horrified by even very small amounts of dirt. It is time for him to see a therapist.
4)    Sarah is afraid of heights. She can’t live in an apartment that is on the second floor, or higher, because of her acrophobia.
5)    My teacher is scared out of her wits every time a dog barks. I think she has cynophobia.