acrophobia

American  

[ak-ruh-foh-bee-uh] / ˌæk rəˈfoʊ bi ə /

noun

Psychiatry.

1. an irrational or disproportionate fear of heights.

   I knew my acrophobia would keep me off of the competitive diving platforms, but I was surprised when walking the diving board three feet above the pool deck also terrified me.

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acrophobia British  

/ ˌækrəˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

1. abnormal fear or dread of being at a great height

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acrophobia Cultural  

1. An abnormal fear of heights.

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Other Word Forms

• acrophobic adjective

Etymology

Origin of acrophobia

First recorded in 1890–95; acro-, -phobia

Explanation

Want to go to the top of the Empire State Building? You must not have acrophobia. Someone who is terrified of heights will just wait for you in the gift shop — which is on the ground floor. You can see the word phobia, or extreme fear, in acrophobia. Acro comes from the Greek word akron, which means "summit" or "high point." When you put it all together, you have a word that means "fear of heights." Whoever named Akron, Ohio, must have studied Greek; it is located on a plateau in Summit County.

Example Sentences

It caused multiple audience members during a screening to have a mild case of acrophobia.

From Washington Times • Oct. 24, 2017

Of course, the 3-D views of the street below as seen from above are somewhere between exhilarating and terrifying, depending on a viewer’s tendency to acrophobia.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 30, 2015

He discovered while training that he was afflicted with acrophobia — fear of heights.

From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2015

At the beginning of his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower was forced to break with the tradition  of his predecessors and give up the presidential suite in the Towers because his wife, Mamie, suffered from acrophobia.

From Salon • Mar. 7, 2014

Probably the commonest is acrophobia, so that the detailed consideration of it shows the indications for other dreads.

From Psychotherapy by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)