-phobia

¹

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 ).

phobia

²

[foh-bee-uh]

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.

phobia

¹

/ ˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

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

-phobia

²

combining form

1. indicating an extreme abnormal fear of or aversion to

   acrophobia

   claustrophobia

phobia

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

Other Word Forms

• -phobic combining form

Word History and Origins

Origin of -phobia¹

From Latin, from Greek, equivalent to -phob(os) “panic fear” + -ia noun suffix; -phobe, -ia

Origin of -phobia²

First recorded in 1780–90; extracted from nouns ending in -phobia

Word History and Origins

Origin of -phobia¹

C19: from Greek phobos fear

Origin of -phobia²

via Latin from Greek, from phobos fear

Example Sentences

She was diagnosed with school phobia and ended up being home schooled for a while, and has since found it hard to stay in a job.

Read more on BBC

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

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"Everything changed" after Paris, she said, noting that she employs up to six people to guard her house at night now, and that she started to get a "phobia of going out" because she thought people would "see me out and know my home was empty".

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

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One of the favorite pseudo-intellectuals of the movement, Curtis Yarvin, sneeringly calls it "dictator phobia" to argue that government should depend on the will of the people, dismissing democracy as outdated and inefficient.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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

When To Use

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.