Basic Details
Word: Apprehensive
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Worried or a little afraid that something bad or difficult is going to happen.
Synonyms: anxious, worried, nervous, uneasy
Antonyms: confident, calm, relaxed
How to Spell Apprehensive
Syllables: ap - pre - hen - sive
Tricky part: It starts with a double p, and the ending is sive with an s. Students who hear the sound sometimes write cive or tive.
Watch out for: aprehensive, apprehencive, apprehansive
Memory tip: There is a hen in the middle: ap-pre-HEN-sive. Picture a nervous hen, apprehensive about the fox outside the coop.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Meher was apprehensive about her first day at the new school.
Example 2: The farmers grew apprehensive as the monsoon came late again.
Example 3: Feeling apprehensive, Dev checked the lock on the door twice.
Fun Fact
Apprehensive and apprehend come from the same Latin verb, apprehendere, 'to seize'. That is why the police are said to apprehend a thief.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word: apprehensive
a) confident
b) nervous
c) uneasy
d) anxious
Show answer
a) confident. An apprehensive person expects trouble, while a confident one feels sure things will go well.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
ap_rehen_ive
a) p, s
b) p, c
c) p, t
d) r, s
Show answer
a) p, s. Double the p at the start and use s in the ending sive.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
nesiphpaveer
a) apprehended
b) apprehensive
c) comprehensive
d) apprehension
Show answer
b) apprehensive. Apprehension needs an o and comprehensive needs c, o and m; only apprehensive uses these twelve letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which situation would make most people feel apprehensive?
a) waiting outside the room for an interview
b) watching a funny cartoon
c) resting on a holiday
d) eating a favourite sweet
Show answer
a) waiting outside the room for an interview
2. An apprehensive traveller at the airport is most likely to ____.
a) fall asleep without a care
b) laugh at every announcement
c) keep checking the departure board
d) forget the trip altogether
Show answer
c) keep checking the departure board
