phobia

¹

[ foh-bee-uh ]

noun

1. an intense, persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, situation, or person that manifests in physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, or shortness of breath, and that motivates avoidance behavior.
2. an aversion toward, dislike of, or disrespect for a thing, idea, person, or group.

-phobia

²

1. a combining form meaning “fear,” occurring in loanwords from Greek ( hydrophobia ); on this model, used in the names of anxiety disorders that have the general sense “dread of, aversion toward” that specified by the initial element ( agoraphobia ); on the same model, used in words that name hostility toward a thing or idea, or a specific group, with the sense “antipathy toward or dislike of, disrespect or disdain for” the object or people specified by the initial element ( technophobia ; xenophobia ).

-phobia

¹

combining form

1. indicating an extreme abnormal fear of or aversion to

   claustrophobia

   acrophobia

phobia

²

/ ˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

1. psychiatry an abnormal intense and irrational fear of a given situation, organism, or object

phobia

1. An extreme and often unreasonable fear of some object, concept, situation, or person.

Derived Forms

• -phobic, combining_form:in_adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of phobia¹

First recorded in 1780–90; extracted from nouns ending in -phobia

Origin of phobia²

From Latin, from Greek, equivalent to -phob(os) “panic fear” + -ia noun suffix; -phobe, -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of phobia¹

via Latin from Greek, from phobos fear

Origin of phobia²

C19: from Greek phobos fear

Example Sentences

That’s higher than depression, higher than phobia, higher than panic attacks and alcoholism.

From Washington Post

In some cases, exposure therapy—in which phobia sufferers willingly and gradually increase their exposure to their trigger—can work, too.

From Time

Friends and family can also help loved ones cope with needle phobia, McMurtry says.

From Time

No one likes needles, though some patients have true phobias that may dissuade them from getting vaccines at all.

From Quartz

Reading has also been shown to alleviate common mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, phobias and eating disorders.

From Fortune

The idea of “research” settings in our popular culture tap into this phobia.

From The Daily Beast

Contemporary society has gifted us with a phobia potentially as strong as acrophobia or the fear of flying: smartphone anxiety.

From The Daily Beast

The guy who took the cake suffered from a Vagina Dentata phobia, with attendant castration anxiety.

From The Daily Beast

So there you have it: another outbreak fueled by irrational vaccine phobia.

From The Daily Beast

He discusses his strange phobia, what makes him cry, and what he and Gore Vidal have in common.

From The Daily Beast

Maybe he had forced himself to go with her and the power of his lifelong phobia had wiped it from his memory.

From Project Gutenberg

No matter how much overlay you pile on top of such a phobia to suppress it, it will continue to haunt you.

From Project Gutenberg

Unless the fear of sleeplessness becomes a full grown phobia, no anxiety need be felt.

From Project Gutenberg

Nervous breakdowns are increasing as a result of the American worry phobia.

From Project Gutenberg

Anton Varcek won't be interested, one way or another; he has what amounts to a pathological phobia about firearms of any sort.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alarm
• anxiety
• aversion
• distaste
• dread
• fear
• fearfulness
• hang-up
• loathing
• obsession
• resentment
• revulsion
• trepidation