xenophobic

[ zen-uh-foh-bik, zee-nuh‑ ]

adjective

1. relating to or exhibiting fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.
2. relating to or exhibiting fear or dislike of the customs, dress, etc., of people who are culturally different.

Other Words From

• xeno·phobi·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of xenophobic¹

First recorded in 1910–15; xenophob(ia) + -ic

Example Sentences

Public health experts called it “xenophobic, cruel, and unlawful” and demanded it be rescinded.

From Washington Post

These distinctive chirps, which pups learn when they’re young, help the mostly blind, xenophobic rodents discern who belongs, strengthening the bonds that maintain cohesion in these highly cooperative groups.

From Science News

I could choose to focus on politicians who use cheap rhetoric to advance a xenophobic agenda.

From Washington Blade

Those who disagreed were dismissed as xenophobic and unsophisticated.

From ProPublica

He was criticized up and down, left and right for being intolerant, for being bigoted, for being xenophobic.

From Ozy

“The movie is totally xenophobic and brutal against the Turks,” he tells me.

From The Daily Beast

They want to challenge what they see as an increasingly xenophobic continent.

From The Daily Beast

Did Geert Wilders, the famously xenophobic Dutch politician, crib from the Nazis for his latest anti-immigrant tirade?

From The Daily Beast

Oh, and their attitudes towards Arabs and promised land are even more insular and xenophobic than most settlers.

From The Daily Beast

We are almost certainly hard coded to be xenophobic, which is why hunter gatherers often have such extraordinary homicide rates.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• biased
• bigoted
• dictatorial
• disdainful
• dogmatic
• fanatical
• fractious
• hateful
• indignant
• irritable
• racist