apprehension

apprehension
apprehension 1 arrest, detention, attachment (see under ARREST vb)
Analogous words: seizing or seizure, taking (see corresponding verbs at TAKE): capturing or capture, catching (see corresponding verbs at CATCH)
Contrasted words: releasing or release, discharging or discharge, liberation (see corresponding verbs at FREE)
2 comprehension (see under APPREHEND 2)
Analogous words: understanding, appreciation (see corresponding verbs at UNDERSTAND): perceiving or perception, observing or observation, noticing or notice, noting (see corresponding verbs at SEE)
3 Apprehension, foreboding, misgiving, presentiment denote fear (or an instance of it) that something is going wrong or will go wrong.
Apprehension usually implies fear that obsesses the mind and keeps one anxious and worried
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be under apprehension concerning a child’s health

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peasants who have survived a famine will be perpetually haunted by memory and apprehensionRussell

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Foreboding particularly designates oppressive anticipatory fear or superstitious, unreasoning, or inadequately defined fear; thus, one may relieve a person’s apprehensions yet find it hard to dispel his forebodings
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there was a sadness and constraint about all persons that day, which filled Mr. Esmond with gloomy forebodingsThackeray

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Misgiving suggests uneasiness and mistrust rather than anxiety or dread; it is often applied to sudden fears (as a suspicion that one is making a mistake, a doubt of one’s capacity to accomplish what one has undertaken, or a disturbing loss of courage)
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in the midst of my anecdote a sudden misgiving chilled me—had I told them about this goat before?— L. P. Smith

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his self-confidence had given place to a misgiving that he had been making a fool of himself— Shaw

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Presentiment implies a vague feeling or a dim, almost mystical, perception of something (not necessarily unpleasant) that seems bound to happen; however, because it frequently suggests an element of anticipatory fear and, in many cases, of foreboding, it comes into comparison with the other words of this group
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the delicious repose of the soul . . . had been shaken . . . and alarmed with dim presentimentGeorge Eliot

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Analogous words: *fear, dread, alarm, panic: worry, anxiety, *care
Antonyms: confidence
Contrasted words: *trust, faith: assurance, self-possession (see CONFIDENCE): *equanimity, sangfroid, composure

New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.

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  • appréhension — [ apreɑ̃sjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1265; lat. apprehensio ♦ Action d appréhender. 1 ♦ Vx Fait de saisir par l esprit. ⇒ compréhension. « L appréhension, je l ai lente et embrouillée » (Montaigne). Philos. Opération par laquelle l esprit atteint un objet de… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Apprehension — Ap pre*hen sion, n. [L. apprehensio: cf. F. appr[ e]hension. See {Apprehend}.] 1. The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an organ of apprehension. Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of seizing or taking by legal… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • appréhension — APPRÉHENSION. sub. f. Crainte. Être dans l appréhension. Avoir de l appréhension. Dans l appréhension qu il a qu on ne le trompe.Appréhension, en termes de Logique, C est l idée qu on prend d une chose, sans en porter alors aucun jugement. La… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • apprehension — Apprehension. s.f.v. En terme de Logique, c est la premiere operation de l entendement, la premiere idée qu il prend d une chose, sans en porter aucun jugement. La simple apprehension.... Il sign. aussi, Crainte. Estre dans l apprehension. avoir… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • apprehension — ap·pre·hen·sion /ˌa pri hen chən/ n: arrest Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. apprehension …   Law dictionary

  • Apprehension — can refer to: *apprehension (understanding), awareness or understanding of something by the mind. *apprehension (fear), a fearful emotion. *arrest, the detention of a criminal by law enforcement officers …   Wikipedia

  • apprehension — [n1] anxiety, fear alarm, apprehensiveness, concern, disquiet, doubt, dread, foreboding, misgiving, mistrust, premonition, presage, presentiment, suspicion, trepidation, uneasiness, worry; concepts 27,690 Ant. calmness, ease apprehension [n2]… …   New thesaurus

  • apprehension — (n.) perception, comprehension, late 14c., from O.Fr. apprehension or directly from L. apprehensionem (nom. apprehensio), noun of action from pp. stem of apprehendere (see APPREHEND (Cf. apprehend)). Sense of seizure on behalf of authority is… …   Etymology dictionary

  • apprehension — Apprehension, Comprehensio. Apprehension et la conception de nostre entendement, Sensus …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • apprehension — ► NOUN 1) uneasy or fearful anticipation. 2) understanding. 3) the action of arresting someone …   English terms dictionary

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