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Is there such a thing?

I know I can use words like anxious, fearful, etc in its place but none of those words capture the anxiety over the future that trepidation does.

Is there some form of trepidation that works?

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What's wrong with "trepidatious"? – Mark Beadles May 25 '12 at 1:57

closed as general reference by FumbleFingers, Jasper Loy, Matt Эллен, kiamlaluno, Mahnax Aug 22 '12 at 5:26

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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

"Trepidatious" is an adjective form of "trepidation". There is also the simple word "trepid"

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According to here it is an adverb. Terpid does not really have to same meaning. – soandos May 25 '12 at 2:03
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Read that more carefully. "Trepidatious" is an adj. "Trepidatiously" is also listed, as an adv. – Mark Beadles May 25 '12 at 2:05
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My apologies, missed that. – soandos May 25 '12 at 2:06
up vote 1 down vote

Words such as tentative, anxious or fearful would work.

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But none of them express fear for the future, they are more generic. – soandos May 25 '12 at 1:48
The word 'tentative' expresses fear about what will happen; it is directly about the future. – ncmathsadist May 25 '12 at 1:53
I thought tentative was more about being unsure. Has nothing to do with the future. – soandos May 25 '12 at 1:56
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What are we unsure about? Mostly.... the future. – ncmathsadist May 25 '12 at 1:58
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Why do you think that trepidation has 'a future component'? The definition cited in the accepted answer says of 'trepidation': A fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern. – Jim May 25 '12 at 6:37
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up vote 0 down vote

many neologisms can be understood at first glance. But you risk slowing the reader to think what it must mean, and irritating him. If conveying your exact meaning is worth that, then coin the word, "trepidatious"

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It's already a word, you don't need to coin it. – Mark Beadles May 25 '12 at 1:57
I am looking for a pre-existing word, not to coin a new one. In light of @MarkBeadles's comment, I agree but I need an adjective rather than an adverb. – soandos May 25 '12 at 1:57
@soandos "trepidatious" is a perfectly fine word: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trepidatious It's an adjective. – Mark Beadles May 25 '12 at 1:58
I think people have an issue with "trepidatious" because why not just use "trepid"? – Julia May 25 '12 at 2:03
@Julia: 'trepid' is rare and obscure, 'with trepidation' is well understood, and even if 'trepidatious' sounds like a goofy neologism, it is close enough sounding to the well-known phrase to have its meaning easily inferred (you don't get that with 'trepid'). – Mitch May 25 '12 at 12:38

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