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

   acrophobia

   claustrophobia

phobia

²

/ ˈfəʊbɪə /

noun

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

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of -phobia¹

via Latin from Greek, from phobos fear

Origin of -phobia²

C19: from Greek phobos fear

Example Sentences

"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".

From BBC

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

From 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calls it "dictator phobia" to argue that government should depend on the will of the people, dismissing democracy as outdated and inefficient.

From Salon

She thinks the idea of banning adverts showing models with bigger bodies is a symptom of society's "fat phobia".

From BBC

That hasn’t stopped a torrent of fat phobia and often frankly hateful cultural attitudes towards weight the drugs have helped fuel, despite having benefits and risks like any other medication.

From 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.