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

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.

Derived Forms

• -phobic, combining_form:in_adjective

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

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From The Daily Beast

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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

Words That Use -phobia

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.

Examples of -phobia

An example of a word you may have encountered that features -phobia is agoraphobia, “an irrational or disproportionate fear of being in crowds, public places, or open areas.”

The agora- part of the word comes from Greek agorā́, meaning “assembly” or “marketplace.” And -phobia means “fear,” as we’ve seen. So, agoraphobia literally translates to “fear of the marketplace.”

What are some words that use the combining form –phobia?

• arachnophobia
• cainotophobia
• claustrophobia
• hydrophobia
• necrophobia
• teratophobia
• thanatophobia

What are some other forms that -phobia may be commonly confused with?

• -phone
• -phony
• -phore

Break it down!

The combining form hydro- means “water.” With this in mind, what does the scientific term hydrophobia mean in everyday language?