Apprehension Meaning
/æp.ɹɪˈhɛn.ʃən/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe physical act of seizing or taking hold of (something); seizing.
nounThe taking of something., The physical act of seizing or taking hold of (something); seizing.
Sentence Examples
His new theory is beyond my apprehension.
He detected in her voice a note of apprehension.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ about the exam grew as she realized she had forgotten to study the key chapters.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She felt a sense of ____ as she walked into the empty dark building.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin apprehensio, apprehensionis, compare with French appréhension. See apprehend.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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:
"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:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her ____ about the exam grew as she realized she had forgotten to study the key chapters.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She felt a sense of ____ as she walked into the empty dark building.