xenophobia

[ zen-uh-foh-bee-uh, zee-nuh- ]

noun

1. an aversion or hostility to, disdain for, or fear of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers:

   Xenophobia and nationalism can be seen as a reaction to the rise of globalization.

2. fear or dislike of the customs, dress, etc., of people who are culturally different from oneself:

   Learning a foreign language can help to overcome xenophobia.

xenophobia

/ ˌzɛnəˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

1. hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers or of their politics or culture

xenophobia

1. An unreasonable fear, distrust, or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anything perceived as foreign or different.

Derived Forms

• ˌxenoˈphobic, adjective

Other Words From

• xen·o·pho·bic adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of xenophobia¹

First recorded in 1890–95; xeno- “foreign, strange” + -phobia “fear”

Example Sentences

We have been looking not only into whether a tweet is true or not, but also into whether it’s spreading panic, or it is promoting bad cure, or xenophobia, racism.

From MIT Technology Review

Once here, professional bona fides insulated the first generation from some xenophobia.

From Time

After all, the United States has a long and ugly history of scapegoating racial and ethnic groups for diseases in ways that are used to justify xenophobia.

From FiveThirtyEight

He also discusses the xenophobia and racism that he and other detainees experienced from guards at the Bossier Parish Medium Security Facility in Plain Dealing, La.

From Washington Blade

What makes the show truly compelling is its subtle commentary on race and xenophobia.

From Washington Post

These groups are generally united in their thuggery and xenophobia.

From The Daily Beast

Since then, a bitter xenophobia has emerged in Odessa just as it has in cities across eastern Ukraine.

From The Daily Beast

We will give up and stop any manifestations of chauvinism and xenophobia.

From The Daily Beast

Pakistan needs a change of direction away from the xenophobia and paranoia fed by its controlling army.

From The Daily Beast

Violent xenophobia and bigotry are just part of the conversation.

From The Daily Beast

What in the West they esteem as national sentiment, in the East they consider xenophobia.'

From Project Gutenberg

This intuition, it seems, is based less on statistics than on plain old xenophobia.

From Project Gutenberg

This xenophobia is a remarkably constant feature of eighteenth-century satire on "taste."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• animosity
• bias
• bigotry
• chauvinism
• discrimination
• enmity
• injustice
• intolerance
• preconception
• predilection
• predisposition
• racism
• sexism