fear

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 怖 has 8 strokes and the kun-reading こわい. 怖い (こわい) means scary or afraid, while 怖 is read ふ in 恐怖 (きょうふ).
• Basic usage: 怖い describes something frightening or a feeling of fear; 恐怖 names the emotion of fear or terror.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Describing fear and naming the emotion
  • 夜の森を一人で歩くのは怖い means that walking alone in the forest at night is frightening. 少し怖かった describes being only a little frightened.
  • 叫び声に恐怖を感じた means felt fear on hearing a scream. 失敗への恐怖 refers to fear of failure.