English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] From Latin apprehensīvus apprehensus apprehendō ( “ to apprehend, understand, learn ” ) + -īvus ( “ -ive ” ) .
Pronunciation [ edit ] IPA (key ) : /ˌæpɹɪˈhɛnsɪv/ Audio (Southern England) (file )
Adjective [ edit ] apprehensive (comparative more apprehensivesuperlative most apprehensive
Anticipating something with anxiety , fear , or doubt ; reluctant.
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe ], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, [ … ] [ … ] W[ illiam] Taylor [ … ] 1719 , →OCLC page 28 :This convinc'd me that there was no going on Shore for us in the Night upon that Coaſt, and how to venture on Shore in the Day was another Queſtion too; for to have fallen into the Hands of any of the Savages, had been as bad as to have fallen into the Hands of Lyons and Tygers; at leaſt we were equally apprehenſive of the Danger of it.
1888–1891 Herman Melville , “[Billy Budd, Foretopman .] Chapter XI.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories , London: John Lehmann , published 1951 , →OCLC pages 256–257 :But Claggart's was no vulgar form of the passion. Nor, as directed toward Billy Budd, did it partake of that streak of apprehensive jealousy that marred Saul's visage perturbedly brooding on the comely young David. Claggart's envy struck deeper.
1947 Crime Does Not Pay [1] 54 , page 45 :Never before in his life had Dan Holland feared anything, but now he was apprehensive for the safety of this trim blond creature before him.
( obsolete ) Perceptive ; quick to learn ; capable of understanding using one's intellect .
Derived terms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ] anticipating something with anxiety or fear
Bulgarian: тревожен (bg) ( trevožen ) , загрижен (bg) ( zagrižen )
Catalan: aprensiu
Chinese:
Mandarin: 憂慮 ／ 忧虑 (zh) ( yōulǜ ) , 恐懼 ／ 恐惧 (zh) ( kǒngjù )
Czech: znepokojený m obávající se úzkostný m obezřetný (cs) m
Dutch: bezorgd (nl)
Finnish: levoton (fi) , huolestunut (fi)
French: soucieux (fr) , appréhensif (fr) , inquiet (fr)
Galician: aprehensivo
German: besorgt (de) , ängstlich (de) , bedenklich (de) , beklommen (de)
Hungarian: aggódó (hu) , nyugtalan (hu) , aggodalmas (hu)
Japanese: 不安な (ja) ( ふあんな, fuan na ) , 気遣う (ja) ( きづかう, kizukau ) , 恐れる (ja) ( おそれる, osoreru )
Korean: 우려(憂慮)하다 ( uryeohada ) , 염려(念慮)하다 (ko) ( yeomnyeohada )
Latin: praementuens
Macedonian: за́грижен ( zágrižen ) , тре́вожен ( trévožen ) , пла́шлив ( plášliv ) , пре́тпазлив ( prétpazliv )
Maori: manawakino mānukanuka whakapūhana whakaririka anipā
Norwegian: engstelig (no) , urolig (no)
Plautdietsch: beklommen
Polish: strwożony zaniepokojony (pl) m zatroskany (pl) m niespokojny (pl) m
Portuguese: apreensivo (pt) , receoso (pt)
Russian: опаса́ющийся (ru) ( opasájuščijsja ) , насторо́женный (ru) ( nastoróžennyj ) , боязли́вый (ru) ( bojazlívyj ) , встрево́женный (ru) ( vstrevóžennyj )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: за̀бринӯт
Roman: zàbrinūt (sh)
Spanish: aprensivo inquieto (es)
Swedish: orolig (sv) , ängslig (sv)
Turkish: endişeli (tr) , tedirgin (tr)
perceptive; quick to learn; intelligent; capable of grasping with the mind or intellect
Bulgarian: съобразителен (bg) ( sǎobrazitelen )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 善於 領會 的 ／ 善于 领会 的 ( shànyú lǐnghuì de ) , 反應 敏銳 的 ／ 反应 敏锐 的 ( fǎnyìng mǐnruì de )
Czech: chápající vnímavý m
Finnish: terävä-älyinen (fi) , tarkkanäköinen (fi) , älykäs (fi)
French: vif (fr) , perspicace (fr)
German: gewieft (de) , lernfähig (de) , scharfsinnig (de)
Hungarian: értelmes (hu) , jó felfogású éles eszű
Japanese: 理解 が 早い ( りかいがはやい, rikai ga hayai ) , 明敏な (ja) ( めいびんな, meibin na )
Korean: 이해(理解) 가 빠른 ( ihae-ga ppareun ) , 총명(聰明)한 (ko) ( chongmyeonghan )
Macedonian: про́никлив ( prónikliv ) , остро́умен ( ostróumen )
Polish: pojętny (pl) m
Portuguese: apreensivo (pt)
Russian: сообрази́тельный (ru) ( soobrazítelʹnyj ) , поня́тливый (ru) ( ponjátlivyj ) , смышлёный (ru) ( smyšljónyj ) , проница́тельный (ru) ( pronicátelʹnyj )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: пронѝцав о̏штроӯман интелигѐнтан пронѝцљив
Roman: pronìcav (sh) , ȍštroūman (sh) , inteligèntan (sh) , pronìcljiv (sh)
Turkish: kıvrak zekâlı çabuk kavrayan