fearer

English

Etymology

fear +‎ -er

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹə(ɹ)

Noun

fearer (plural fearers)

1. One who fears, especially one who fears God; a worshipper.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Philip Sidney to this entry?)

   • 1719, unnamed translators, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, The History of the Renowned Don Quijote de la Mancha [1615, M. Cervantes, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha], Volume 3, Peter Motteux, page 189,

     Come Sir, reply'd Sancho, judge you of your Knight-Errantry, and don't meddle with other Men's Fears; for I am as pretty a Fearer of Heaven as any of my Neighbours; and ſo let me diſpatch this Scum, (and much Good may't do thee honeſt Sancho;)

   • 1870, Richard Brock (author and publisher), A New Family Herbal; Or, A History and Description of All the British and Foreign Plants, 2nd Edition, page 396,

     Good advice, certainly, but the difficulty is, to be able to distinguish the real fearers of God, from those who only make a pretence to such fear.

   • 2009, Poul F. Guttesen, Leaning Into the Future: The Kingdom of God in the Theology of Jürgen Moltmann and in the Book of Revelation, Pickwick Publications, page 53,

     But such fear binds the fearer and the goal is never achieved as the fearer abuses what is found today to create the tomorrow that does not exist. It becomes an illusory dream that always evades the fearer while holding him or her tightly in its tyranny.

Derived terms

• God-fearer