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We can talk about things that frighten us by using these words: scare, fright, terrify and fear.
To be scared/frightened/terrified of + noun
Alice is scared of heights.
He's frightened of spiders.
They're terrified of exams.
Passive form:
Heights scare Alice.
Dogs terrify me.
Loud noises always frighten him.
To get a fright
She gets a fright every time she hears a dog bark.
I got such a fright when I saw the mouse.
To have/have got a fear of + noun
I've a real fear of speaking in public.
He's got a fear of horses.
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The word 'phobia' comes from the Greek for 'fear'. In English we can make words with the 'phobia' at the end to describe types of fears.
These phobias are nouns. "She suffers from arachnophobia. If she even sees a picture of a spider, she starts crying".
The noun to describe the person with a phobia is phobic. For example, "He can't go in lifts because he's claustrophobic".
acrophobia
fear of heights
arachnophobia
fear of spiders
agoraphobia
fear of open or public spaces
claustrophobia
fear of closed or small spaces
We can also talk about people's prejudices in terms of what or who they are afraid of:
homophobia
fear of homosexuals
technophobia
fear of new things (especially technology)
xenophobia
fear of foreign people or people who are different from me
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To talk about when something or someone gives you a fright, you can use these expressions:
To scare the living daylights out of someone
I thought I was the only one in the house so when he walked into the room, he scared the living daylights out of me.
To get the fright of your life
I got the fright of my life when she crept up behind me and shouted "Boo!"
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architecture
style in which buildings are made
sway
move slowly from side to side
acrophobia
fear of heights
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