Dictionary

apprehension en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /æp.ɹɪˈhɛn.ʃən/ (UK)
• (UK) audio
• /æp.ɹiˈhɛn.ʃən/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin apprehensio, apprehensionis, compare with French appréhension. See apprehend.

Meanings

1. (countable, rare, uncountable) The taking of something. ▸ The physical act of seizing or taking hold of (something); seizing.
   • The wing would have been a severe obstruction to apprehension of an object on the ground. 2006, Phil Senter, "Comparison of Forelimb Function between Deinonychus and Babiraptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridea)", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 26, no. 4 (Dec.), p. 905
2. (countable, uncountable) The taking of something. ▸ The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest.
   • After video emerged of an aggressive apprehension of a teenager in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, McLaughlin claimed it was old video and didn’t involve ICE. She called it “a video from a burglary arrest Chicago Police made over a year ago.” 2026 February 17, Aaron Blake, “The many claims by Trump’s DHS that have fallen apart”, in CNN, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2026:
   • The warrant had been issued for his apprehension on the charge of rioting. 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 37, in North and South:
   • When he told us that a large reward was offered by Sir Leicester Dedlock for the murderer's apprehension, I did not in my first consternation understand why; […] 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
3. (countable, uncountable) The awareness of something ▸ Perception; the act of understanding using one's intellect without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment
   • We live on, and in living we lose the apprehension of life. 1815, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “On Life,”, in A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays, published 1840:
4. (countable, uncountable) The awareness of something ▸ Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.
   • We think we get a kind of vague apprehension of what London means from the top of a 'bus better than anywhere else. 1901, Kate Douglas Wiggin, chapter 8, in Penelope's English Experiences:
5. (countable, uncountable) The awareness of something ▸ The faculty by which ideas are conceived or by which perceptions are grasped; understanding.
   • Strangers of limited information and dull apprehension were sometimes observed not to know what a Powler was. 1854, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in Hard Times:
6. (countable, uncountable) The awareness of something ▸ Anticipation, especially of unfavorable things such as dread or fear or the prospect of something unpleasant in the future.
   • Every circumstance which evinced the savage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the fearful apprehensions that consumed me. 1846, Herman Melville, chapter 32, in Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life:

Forms

Antonyms

release · inapprehension · inapprehension · peace of mind · calm · release

Deriveds

nonapprehension · misapprehension · reapprehension · preapprehension

Hypernyms

doubt · fear · uneasy · dread · anticipation

Hyponyms

scruple · compunction

Relateds

sense

Synonyms

seizure · capture · trepidation · sense · alarm · notion · taking · consciousness · awareness · apprehension · misgiving · qualm · grab · trepidation

Translations (132)

cs chápání (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · cs zatčení (arrest) · ru мне́ние (opinion) · es arresto (arrest) · sh arest (arrest) · it apprensione (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · be а́рышт (arrest) · cs pochopení (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Ansicht (opinion) · sv fruktan (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Auffassung (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Besorgtheit (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Ahnung (opinion) · de Ergreifen (seizure) · be затрыма́нне (arrest) · sv oro (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Auffassungsgabe (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · nl visie (opinion) · sv farhåga (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · cmn 捕捉 (seizure) · nl begrip (act of grasping with the intellect) · ro aprehensiune (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · fi ymmärtäminen (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Bedenklichkeit (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · uk побо́ювання (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · mi pekerau (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · cmn 捕捉 (arrest) · de Begriff (opinion) · pdt Sorj (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · hu aggodalom (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · bg задъ́ржане (arrest) · pt apreensão (seizure) · fi ymmärrys (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · fi ymmärrys (act of grasping with the intellect) · fi ottaminen (seizure) · nl angst (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · bg схва́щане (act of grasping with the intellect) · pt apreensão (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · cs představa (opinion) · de Sorge (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ro idee (opinion) · bg мне́ние (opinion) · de Nehmen (seizure) · eo antaŭtimo (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · bg разби́ране (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · nl begrip (opinion) · ro opinie (opinion) · ro concepție (act of grasping with the intellect) · bg опасе́ние (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · cs intelekt (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · bg разби́ране (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Vorstellung (opinion) · sk zatknutie (arrest) · ru предчу́вствие (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Bedenken (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Furcht (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · nl begrip (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · de Angst (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · sh shvaćanje (act of grasping with the intellect) · pt apreensão (arrest) · de Auffassungskraft (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · sh strepnja (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · fi pidätys (arrest) · nl verstand (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · de Fassen (seizure) · de Begreifen (act of grasping with the intellect) · ru понима́ние (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · cmn 恐懼 /恐惧 (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · fi aavistus (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Fassungsgabe (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · sh poimanje (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Fassungskraft (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · de Meinung (opinion) · cs názor (opinion) · de Idee (opinion) · uk аре́шт (arrest) · es aprensión (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ro înțelegere (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · nl snappen (act of grasping with the intellect) · cs předtucha (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · tl nganingani (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ro părere (opinion) · nl gezichtspunt (opinion) · ru задержа́ние (arrest) · uk затри́мання (arrest) · cs pojem (opinion) · bg аре́ст (arrest) · cs obava (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ru осмысле́ние (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Bangigkeit (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · pl zatrzymanie (arrest) · nl vrees (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · nl vastgrijpen (arrest) · de Erfassung (act of grasping with the intellect) · cmn 逮捕 (arrest) · nl opinie (opinion) · uk заде́ржання (arrest) · de Greifen (seizure) · de Anfassen (seizure) · fi pidättäminen (arrest) · nl begrijpen (act of grasping with the intellect) · ro înțelegere (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Verständnis (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · pt apreensão (act of grasping with the intellect) · bg хва́щане (seizure) · cmn 憂慮 /忧虑 (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ja 捕捉 (arrest) · de Festnahme (arrest) · ru хвата́ние (seizure) · sh hapšenje (arrest) · ro pricepere (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Verstehen (act of grasping with the intellect) · nl arrestatie (arrest) · de Befürchtung (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Besorgnis (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · de Vorahnung (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ru опасе́ние (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · nl grijpen (seizure) · fi käsitys (opinion) · nl grijpen (arrest) · tl pag-aresto (arrest) · hu elfogás (arrest) · ru постижение (act of grasping with the intellect) · de Auffassung (opinion) · ru понима́ние (act of grasping with the intellect) · ro arest (arrest) · ro arestare (arrest) · ru представле́ние (opinion) · de Verstand (faculty by which ideas are conceived) · bg предста́ва (opinion) · cmn 擔心 /担心 (distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil) · ru аре́ст (arrest)