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

A Swedish minister's phobia of bananas has reportedly led to government officials asking for rooms to be free of the fruit.

From BBC

Experts regard selective mutism as a fear or phobia of talking to certain people, the cause is not always clear, but is associated with anxiety.

From BBC

Intrigued by shyness, Zimbardo founded the Stanford Shyness Clinic to uncover the roots of anxiety, panic and social phobia.

From Los Angeles Times

Yarvin, for instance, has insisted Americans must "get over their dictator phobia."

From Salon

She said her pet cat, Yoyo, whom she adopted after overcoming her feline phobia for “A Quiet Place: Day One,” has helped her cope with the split — seemingly her second breakup within a year.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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