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Can anyone help me out here? It's been nagging me all afternoon, scrounging around in my head for it and plumbing the Web--I swear I've heard a more literary alternative for this one before.

I'm looking for a synonym or different expression for "for fear that".

Something like "God forbid" comes to mind, but that's not quite it: too idiomatic. Though it has a completely different meaning, "by dint of" keeps presenting itself I think because the one that's eluding me is also a prepositional phrase, maybe three words.

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Lest

for fear that —often used after an expression denoting fear or apprehension

worried lest she should be late

hesitant to speak out lest he be fired

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It would be nice for the question to have an exact sentence as there is a difference between doing something FOR the purpose of avoiding trouble vs doing something with reservations that it might go wrong?

Might go wrong but doing it anyway:

  • with trepidation

Did something a bit differently to reduce risk

  • due to uncertainty

  • out of saftey concerns

  • at the risk of rain delay, we had contigency plans

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