apprehension
/æp.ɹɪˈhɛn.ʃən/
apprehension means the taking of something.; The physical act of seizing or taking hold of (something); seizing.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, apprehension ranks #1,398 of 14,322 for Scariest Words, #2,308 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,592 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #2,678 of 14,410 for Most Ponderous Words.
apprehension is pronounced /æp.ɹɪˈhɛn.ʃən/.
Why “apprehension” is a great word
A state of anxious unease about a future misfortune. From the Latin apprehensio, apprehensionis ("a seizing, laying hold of, understanding"), from apprehendere, from ad- ("to") + prehendere ("to seize, grasp"). Unlike "trepidation," which shudders in the bones, or "inapprehension," a blank and untroubled ignorance, apprehension is the mind's cold hand closing around a future that has not yet arrived. It is the held breath before the verdict, the scent of rain rising from hot pavement, the quiet stretch of skin across the knuckles when bracing for a blow that may never land—the intellect seizing a shadow, and in that grasp, beginning to tremble.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin apprehensio, apprehensionis, compare with French appréhension. See apprehend.
noun
- The taking of something.; The physical act of seizing or taking hold of (something); seizing.“The wing would have been a severe obstruction to apprehension of an object on the ground.”
- The taking of something.; The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest.“The warrant had been issued for his apprehension on the charge of rioting.”
- The awareness of something; Perception; the act of understanding using one's intellect without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment“We live on, and in living we lose the apprehension of life.”
- The awareness of something; Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.“We think we get a kind of vague apprehension of what London means from the top of a 'bus better than anywhere else.”
- The awareness of something; The faculty by which ideas are conceived or by which perceptions are grasped; understanding.“Strangers of limited information and dull apprehension were sometimes observed not to know what a Powler was.”
- The awareness of something; Anticipation, especially of unfavorable things such as dread or fear or the prospect of something unpleasant in the future.“Every circumstance which evinced the savage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the fearful apprehensions that consumed me.”
Words closest in meaning
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