pet‧ri‧fied /ˈpetrəfaɪd, ˈpetrɪfaɪd/ adjective
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: French; Origin: pétrifier, from Greek petra 'rock']

1. extremely frightened, especially so frightened that you cannot move or think
petrified of
I’m petrified of spiders.
petrified with fright/fear
He was petrified with fear when he saw the gun.

2. petrified wood/trees etc wood, trees etc that have changed into stone over a long period of time
—petrify verb [transitive]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

frightened feeling worried because you might get hurt or because something bad might happen:
I was too frightened to say anything.
Many animals are frightened of fireworks.
Frightened residents called the police as the gang started throwing bricks.
scared [not before noun] especially spoken frightened. Scared is less formal than frightened and is the usual word to use in everyday English:
I’m scared of dogs.
Old people are too scared to go out of their homes.
afraid [not before noun] frightened. Afraid sounds more formal than frightened or scared:
Children are often afraid of the dark.
I was afraid that I might say the wrong thing.
alarmed frightened and worried that something bad might happen:
She was alarmed at the thought of performing in front of an audience.
Alarmed passengers spotted fuel leaking from the plane.
fearful formal frightened that something bad might happen:
They are fearful of another terrorist attack.
He was fearful that he might make another mistake.
a fearful panic
terrified very frightened:
He looked terrified as the plane took off.
James was absolutely terrified of losing his only child.
He dragged the terrified woman into his car.
petrified very frightened – used especially when you are so frightened that you cannot think or move:
She’s absolutely petrified of spiders.
scared stiff/scared to death informal very frightened:
I had to make a speech, and I was scared stiff.
She was scared to death of her father.
in terror written if you do something in terror, you do it because you are very frightened:
People fled in terror as the building went up in flames.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲