nomophobia

American  

[noh-muh-foh-bee-uh] / ˌnoʊ məˈfoʊ bi ə /

Sometimes smartphone anxiety

noun

Psychology.

1. anxiety caused by being without access to a functioning mobile phone.

   One contributor to our nomophobia is the reliance we have on our phones for creating, storing, and sharing personal memories.

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Other Word Forms

• nomophobic adjective

Etymology

Origin of nomophobia

First recorded in 2005–10; no ¹ ( def. ) + mo(bile) ( def. ) + phobia ( def. )

Explanation

Nomophobia is an intense, irrational fear of not having a mobile phone. If your heart starts thumping and you begin to sweat when you realize you left your phone at home, you may suffer from nomophobia. Nomophobia is a new word, coined in 2008, for a distinctly 21st-century disorder. Most people feel a brief sense of panic when they forget their cell phone, but this word describes a much more severe anxiety. Nomophobia isn't yet an official psychological diagnosis, but it's considered by many psychologists to be a behavioral addiction. Like other phobias, or intense, irrational fears, nomophobia disrupts sufferers' lives. The word is shorthand for "no mobile phobia."

Example Sentences

Coined in 2009, nomophobia is short for “no mobile phone phobia,” an irrational fear of not having your phone.

From Washington Post • Jan. 27, 2023

A somewhat ungainly word came into being a decade ago: nomophobia — short for no mobile phone phobia — meaning a fear of being without one’s phone, or at least without juice or network coverage.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2019

Other words which are part of the October 2019 update include Jedi, nomophobia and easy-breezy.

From BBC • Oct. 15, 2019

“Your choice, nomophobia, tells us that people around the world probably experience this type of anxiety enough that you recognized it needed a name,” Cambridge stated in a blog post.

From Salon • Dec. 28, 2018

Phones and accessories are evolving to address the problem Most experts don’t think nomophobia is a crucial problem, but it speaks to a kind of anxiety.

From The Verge • Aug. 17, 2018