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• phobia
  phobia

  noun

  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.
• -phobia
  -phobia

  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 American  

[foh-bee-uh] / ˈfoʊ bi ə /

noun

phobias plural

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

Derived Forms

• -phobic
  combining form

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• phobias
  plural

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; see origin at -phobe, -ia

Explanation

A phobia is an intense and irrational fear of something. If seeing a spider makes you scream and jump on top of a table, then you might suffer from a phobia. The thing to remember about phobia is that it describes an irrational fear. If you’re afraid of a black widow spider, for example, that’s not a phobia — it’s just smart, because the spider is poisonous. If you’re afraid of all spiders, however, and the sight of a harmless daddy long legs spider has you shaking in terror, then you may have a phobia. In this case, it's a phobia because your reaction is irrational.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phobia -phobia phobias

This can make it difficult for patients with needle phobia or who don’t want to self-inject due to the inconvenience.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026

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 ● Mar. 7, 2026

Like addiction or phobia, it narrows lives and corrodes resilience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025

In my early 30s, I developed a terrible phobia of flying.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025

Maybe Leonard’s daughter will develop a phobia of birds being locked up in cages.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

Then there’s the knotty question of the impact of Anglophilia and -phobia, and how the two mingle and complicate each other.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2014

Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorders, and phobias.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026

Also, those with insect phobias should consider this when planning a visit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

It is human nature to project our phobias, prejudices and obsessions onto what is simply a biological contest between our immune system and the amoral pathogens trying to replicate themselves within us.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

John Hawker, a psychotherapist who helps people deal with phobias, says a fear of hospitals is "quite common", often begins in childhood and is triggered by sights, smells and sounds.

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025

While thumbing toward the Bible section, I came across a list of phobias arranged into various classifications.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Related Words

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