From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishscaredscared /skeəd $ skerd/ ●●● S3 adjective FRIGHTENEDfrightened of something, or nervous about something SYN afraid At first, he was really scared.scared of somebody/something I’ve always been scared of dogs.scared of doing something Don’t be scared of asking for help.scared (that) I wanted to ask her out, but was scared that she might refuse.scared to do something The boys were scared to cross the street.scared stiff/scared to death/scared out of your wits (=extremely frightened) I was scared stiff at the thought of making a speech.► see thesaurus at frightenedRegisterScared is slightly informal. In written English, people usually prefer to use afraid or frightened:She was afraid of losing Anna in the crowd.COLLOCATIONSadverbsvery/really scaredBy this time I was feeling really scared.quite scaredSome of the children were quite scared.a bit/little scaredI was always a little scared of my father.verbsfeel scaredShe was beginning to feel a bit scared.look scaredWhat’s the matter? You look scared.get scared (=start to feel scared)It was now completely dark and I was getting scared.phrasesscared to death (=extremely scared)He looked scared to death.scared stiff informal (=extremely scared)I was scared stiff of going down those cellar steps.scared witless/out of your wits informal (=extremely scared)She admitted she was scared witless.be running scared (=feel scared, especially because someone might catch you or defeat you)The opposition were running scared.
Examples from the Corpus
scared• Then he came into the bedroom to see me and I got really scared.• The first time I went on a motorcycle I was really scared.• She didn't know why she felt so scared.• There are people who encouraged me not to worry, not to be scared, but it's hard.• Why on earth is his Department so scared of answering questions on this subject?• Now most of her contacts were out-of-town businessmen, far more scared of comebacks than she'd ever have to be.• She's always been scared of heights.• You're scared of him, aren't you, whoever he is?• I think they were all scared of offending him.• She says she gets nervous whenever there's a car behind her, and she's scared of speed.• When he came back he looked scared stiff, as if he'd seen a ghost.• I hate reading out my work in class - I'm scared that people are going to laugh at me.• He was too scared to be otherwise.• I stood still, scared to move forward and scared to go back.scared to do something• But I was too bloody scared to accept the offer.• I am sick and scared to death Though I only know about it from what men say.• She wasn't just scared of the cameras, she was scared of everything - scared to go home.• But I was too scared to go out.• My period was a week late but I was too scared to have a test.• Janice lay on the floor trembling, too scared to move.• It was the pot of white paint that dropped + had fallen on Nutmeg but he had been too scared to notice.• He said he had been scared to tell the truth after a series of threats from one of the gang.• She was also scared to undress in front of him. 