Fear - Keword or not?

[AceofAllan]

Is fear always considered a keyword? I guess this is confusing me because so many cards have it spelled out and so many others simply say "Fear."

The reason this is important is because if it's not actually a keyword, you should be able to sleight of mind (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=126) it so you can block it. (Not that anyone actually plays sleight of mind.)

Even if it is a keyword, can sleight of mind still work to change how the card works?

[Dilettante]

1) Fear is a keyword... See creatures like Dread (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=140168)
2) You have to see the Oracle text of a card. You can not affect reminder text, so a card simply having Fear upon it does not affect that portion. However, you can change the text of something similar, but not quite, like Seeker (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=2364) since it is not reminder text, but actual Oracle text.

[Nihil Credo]

Extra: Old cards that read "[Something] cannot be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures" have been errata'd to have Fear instead. However, as Dilettante said, any card that uses a slight variant of the ability such as Seeker have not been keyworded.