phobia

¹ American  

[foh-bee-uh] / ˈfoʊ bi ə /

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.

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-phobia ² American  

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 ).

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phobia ¹ British  

/ ˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

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

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-phobia ² British  

combining form

1. indicating an extreme abnormal fear of or aversion to

   acrophobia

   claustrophobia

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phobia Cultural  

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

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Usage

What does -phobia mean? The combining form -phobia is used like a suffix meaning “fear.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in psychology and biology.The form -phobia comes from Greek phóbos, meaning “fear” or “panic.” The Latin translation is timor, “fear,” which is the source of words such as timid and timorous.What are variants of -phobia?While -phobia doesn’t have any variants, it is related to two other combining forms: -phobic and -phobe. Want to know more? Check out our Words that Use articles for each form.

Other Word Forms

• -phobic combining form

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

And there's another phenomenon that has been termed "complexity phobia": the aversion to recognising incontrovertible evidence and facts if they challenge a more comfortable and comforting narrative.

From BBC

It has taken four years to arrange the right dog, with letters being sent to parents and guardians asking about allergies, phobias and other concerns.

From BBC

My mother had never heard the word "phobia" before.

From Literature

Don’t miss: A luxury ‘phobia’ is gripping these consumers.

From MarketWatch

The plaintiff’s former therapist, Victoria Burke, testified that she diagnosed Kaley with body dysmorphia and social phobia, a type of anxiety disorder, in her early teens.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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