phobia

1 of 2

noun

pho·​bia ˈfō-bē-ə 

: an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation

-phobia

2 of 2

noun combining form

1

: exaggerated fear of

acrophobia

2

: intolerance or aversion for

photophobia

Examples of phobia in a Sentence

Noun

His fear of crowds eventually developed into a phobia.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Black Sheep stars Nathan Meister as Henry, a man who grew up on a sheep farm but developed a deep phobia of them. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2024

What the current vanguard of intensive parenting appears to reflect is a deepening phobia of diminishing returns. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2024

In addition to needle phobia, he’s identified several hurdles that stop people from injecting epinephrine sooner. —Natallie Rocha, The Mercury News, 11 Oct. 2024

The balance between witty humor and monster mayhem is perfectly calibrated, with John Goodman bringing the laughs as a gregarious exterminator and Jeff Daniels providing twitchy paranoia as a small-town doctor with an intense phobia of all things arachnid. —Katie Rife, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

-phobia

Noun combining form

New Latin, from Late Latin, from Greek, from -phobos fearing, from phobos fear, flight, from phebesthai to flee; akin to Lithuanian bėgti to flee, Old Church Slavic běžati

First Known Use

Noun

1786, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

phobia

noun

pho·​bia ˈfō-bē-ə 

: an unreasonable, abnormal, and lasting fear of something

Medical Definition

phobia

noun

pho·​bia ˈfō-bē-ə 

: an exaggerated and often disabling fear usually inexplicable to the subject and having sometimes a logical but usually an illogical or symbolic object, class of objects, or situation compare compulsion, obsession