怕 pà — to be afraid; to fear
妹妹有点儿怕黑。Mèi mei yǒu diǎnr pà hēi.My younger sister is a little afraid of the dark.
Common words: 可怕 (kě pà)、害怕 (hài pà)、恐怕 (kǒng pà)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to fear"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to fear", including 怕 (pà), 恐 (kǒng), 惧 (jù), 畏 (wèi). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to fear" covers 4 different Chinese characters — 怕 (pà), 恐 (kǒng), 惧 (jù), 畏 (wèi) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 4 characters do not share a sound — their readings span pà, kǒng, jù, wèi — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 怕 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 怕 pàto be afraid; to fearUseful words: 可怕, 害怕
- 恐 kǒngafraid; frightened; to fearUseful words: 恐怕, 恐怖
- 惧 jùto fearUseful words: 恐惧, 畏惧
- 畏 wèito fearUseful words: 畏惧, 畏缩
Common words for these 4 "to fear" characters
Anchor each of these 4 characters in a word you can picture — start with 怕 (pà) — so "to fear" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
可怕kě pàawful; dreadful; fearful; formidable害怕hài pàto be afraid; to be scared恐怕kǒng pàfear; to dread; I'm afraid that...; perhaps恐怕kǒng pàfear; to dread; I'm afraid that...; perhaps恐怖kǒng bùterrible; frightful; frightening; terror恐惧kǒng jùto be frightened; fear; dread恐惧kǒng jùto be frightened; fear; dread畏惧wèi jùto fear; to dread; foreboding惧内jù nèihenpecked畏惧wèi jùto fear; to dread; foreboding
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 4 ways to say "to fear".
恐 kǒng — afraid; frightened; to fear
我恐怕赶不上这趟火车了。Wǒ kǒng pà gǎn bu shàng zhè tàng huǒ chē le.I am afraid I will not catch this train.
Common words: 恐怕 (kǒng pà)、恐怖 (kǒng bù)、恐惧 (kǒng jù)
惧 jù — to fear
面对困难，他毫不畏惧。Miàn duì kùn nán, tā háo bú wèi jù.Facing difficulties, he is not afraid at all.
Common words: 恐惧 (kǒng jù)、畏惧 (wèi jù)、惧内 (jù nèi)
畏 wèi — to fear
真正勇敢的人不会畏惧困难。Zhēn zhèng yǒng gǎn de rén bú huì wèi jù kùn nán.Truly brave people are not afraid of difficulties.
Common words: 畏惧 (wèi jù)、畏缩 (wèi suō)、不畏 (bù wèi)
All 4 characters
Open 怕、恐、惧 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.