/əˈfreɪd ||; əˈfred/adj (not before a noun 不用于名词前)
1 afraid (of sb/sth);afraid (of doing sth/to do sth) having or showing fear; frightened 害怕；惊恐: Are you afraid of dogs? 你怕狗吗？Ben is afraid of going out after dark. 本不敢在天黑之后出门。I was too afraid to answer the door. 我怕得不敢应门。
2 afraid (that...);afraid (of doing sth) worried about sth 担心: We were afraid that you would be angry. 我们担心你会生气。to be afraid of offending sb 担心冒犯某人
3 afraid for sb/sth worried that sb/sth will be harmed, lost, etc 担心某人或某物会受伤、失去: When I saw the gun I was afraid for my life. 我一看见那枝枪就担心会送了我的命。
Compare afraid and frightened. You can only use afraid after a noun, but you can use frightened before or after a noun a frightened animal The animal was afraid/frightened. 比较afraid及frightened。afraid只可以用于名词之后，但 frightened可用于名词之前或之后：a frightened animal受惊的动物The animal was afraid／frightened.那只动物受惊了。 I'm afraid (that...) used for saying politely that you are sorry about sth （用以表示歉意的礼貌说法）恐怕，对不起:
I'm afraid I can't come on Sunday. 我星期天恐怕不能来。‘Is the factory going to close?’‘I'm afraid so.’ “工厂是不是快倒闭了？”“恐怕是的。”‘Is this seat free?’‘I'm afraid not/it isn't.’ “这个座位有人坐吗？”“对不起，有。”