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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
2a 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
acrophobia
claustrophobia
phobia
2/ ˈəʊɪə /
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.
Other 51Թ Forms
- -phobic combining form
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of phobia1
Origin of phobia2
Example Sentences
Just before they set off for Euroland, we sat down with the trio to discuss quitting their jobs, overcoming phobias, and the dreaded "nul points".
In my early 30s, I developed a terrible phobia of flying.
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calls it "dictator phobia" to argue that government should depend on the will of the people, dismissing democracy as outdated and inefficient.
She thinks the idea of banning adverts showing models with bigger bodies is a symptom of society's "fat phobia".
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.
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Related 51Թs
When To Use
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 óDz, 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 51Թs that Use articles for each form.
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