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xenophobe

American  
[zen-uh-fohb, zee-nuh-] / ˈzɛn əˌfoʊb, ˈzi nə- /

noun

  1. a person who fears or hates foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.

  2. a person who fears or dislikes the customs, dress, etc., of people who are culturally different.

xenophobe British  
/ ˈzɛnəˌfəʊb /

noun

  1. a person who hates or fears foreigners or strangers

"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

Etymology

Origin of xenophobe

First recorded in 1910–15; xeno- + -phobe

Explanation

Someone who hates, distrusts, or fears foreigners is a xenophobe. If your neighbor complains bitterly about all the immigrants in your city, he's probably a xenophobe. Xenophobe derives from the Greek xenos, "stranger," and phobos, "fear." Originally, the word had the same meaning that "agoraphobe" does today — someone who fears crowded or unfamiliar places. Since the early 1900s, it's been used for those who are narrow-minded and distrustful when it comes to people born in different countries, who speak different languages and practice different religions than they themselves do.

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Vocabulary lists containing xenophobe

Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: phob

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.