唯恐

wéikǒng
adverb #29,835

Meanings

  1. 1 for fear that
  2. 2 lest
  3. 3 only afraid that

Examples

Tā wéikǒng chídào, tíqián yī xiǎoshí chūfā le.
Afraid of being late, she set out an hour early.
Tā wéikǒng shuō cuò huà, chénmò bù yǔ.
Fearing he might say the wrong thing, he stayed silent.

Tips

usage
唯恐 is slightly formal and often appears in written language. The colloquial equivalent is or 生怕. 唯恐天下 (hoping the world will fall into chaos) is a well-known idiom using this word.

Stroke Order

wéi
kǒng