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View synonyms for phobia

phobia

1

[ 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

2
  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

1

combining form

  1. indicating an extreme abnormal fear of or aversion to

    claustrophobia

    acrophobia

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


phobia

2

/ ˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

  1. psychiatry an abnormal intense and irrational fear of a given situation, organism, or object
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

phobia

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


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Derived Forms

  • -phobic, combining_form:in_adjective
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Word History and Origins

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of phobia1

via Latin from Greek, from phobos fear

Origin of phobia2

C19: from Greek phobos fear
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Example Sentences

That’s higher than depression, higher than phobia, higher than panic attacks and alcoholism.

In some cases, exposure therapy—in which phobia sufferers willingly and gradually increase their exposure to their trigger—can work, too.

From Time

Friends and family can also help loved ones cope with needle phobia, McMurtry says.

From Time

No one likes needles, though some patients have true phobias that may dissuade them from getting vaccines at all.

From Quartz

Reading has also been shown to alleviate common mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, phobias and eating disorders.

From Fortune

The idea of “research” settings in our popular culture tap into this phobia.

Contemporary society has gifted us with a phobia potentially as strong as acrophobia or the fear of flying: smartphone anxiety.

The guy who took the cake suffered from a Vagina Dentata phobia, with attendant castration anxiety.

So there you have it: another outbreak fueled by irrational vaccine phobia.

He discusses his strange phobia, what makes him cry, and what he and Gore Vidal have in common.

Maybe he had forced himself to go with her and the power of his lifelong phobia had wiped it from his memory.

No matter how much overlay you pile on top of such a phobia to suppress it, it will continue to haunt you.

Unless the fear of sleeplessness becomes a full grown phobia, no anxiety need be felt.

Nervous breakdowns are increasing as a result of the American worry phobia.

Anton Varcek won't be interested, one way or another; he has what amounts to a pathological phobia about firearms of any sort.

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-phobephobic