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phobia
1[ foh-bee-uh ]
noun
- 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.
- an aversion toward, dislike of, or disrespect for a thing, idea, person, or group.
-phobia
2- 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
1combining form
- indicating an extreme abnormal fear of or aversion to
claustrophobia
acrophobia
phobia
2/ ˈfəʊbɪə /
noun
- psychiatry an abnormal intense and irrational fear of a given situation, organism, or object
phobia
- An extreme and often unreasonable fear of some object, concept, situation, or person.
Derived Forms
- -phobic, combining_form:in_adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of phobia1
Origin of phobia2
Example Sentences
A Swedish minister's phobia of bananas has reportedly led to government officials asking for rooms to be free of the fruit.
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.
Intrigued by shyness, Zimbardo founded the Stanford Shyness Clinic to uncover the roots of anxiety, panic and social phobia.
Yarvin, for instance, has insisted Americans must "get over their dictator phobia."
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.
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