social anxiety disorder

noun

: an anxiety disorder that is characterized by persistent and exaggerated fear of social situations (such as meeting strangers, dating, or public speaking) in which embarrassment or a negative judgment by others may occur and that causes significant distress, often resulting in an avoidance of such situations and impairment of normal social or occupational activities

The essential feature of social anxiety disorder is marked, or intense, fear or anxiety of social situations in which the individual may be scrutinized by others.

—Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition

About 5.3 million Americans … suffer from social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia. It occurs in women twice as often as men. Symptoms include a persistent fear of being scrutinized and humiliated in public, excessive worrying, profuse sweating, trembling and stomach discomfort.

—Patricia Guthrie, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

called also social phobia