phobia

See also: -phobia

English

Etymology

c 1790, from words ending in -phobia, from Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear”). Compare ism, from -ism, itis, from -itis, and ana, from -ana.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoʊbi.ə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈfəʊbɪə/ (UK)

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊbiə

Noun

phobia (plural phobias or phobiae or phobiæ)

1. An irrational, abnormal, or obsessive fear (of something).

   I know someone with a strange phobia of ladders.

2. An aversion or dislike (of something).
   • 1914, McClure's Magazine, page 140:

     Some patients have the phobia of light, and others have the phobia of darkness. Another common aversion is that of high places. The phobiac of this type can not sit in the gallery […]

   • 2009 06, Michael G. Peletz, Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times, Routledge, →ISBN, page 162:

     For as interviewer Than Win Htut expressed it, “misunderstandings about, and phobia of, gay life and homosexuality are very common in Burma.” Than Win Htut went on to observe that in Burma […]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:phobia.

Hyponyms

• See Category:en:Phobias.

Derived terms

• social phobia
• specific phobia

 

English terms suffixed with -phobia

Related terms

• -phobe
• -phobia
• -phobiac
• -phobic

Translations

irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety

• Afrikaans: fobie
• Albanian: fobi ?
• Arabic: رُهَاب (ar) m (ruhāb), فوبيا f (fūbiyā)

  Hijazi Arabic: فوبيا f (fōbya), رهاب m (ruhāb)

• Armenian: ֆոբիա (hy) (fobia)
• Azerbaijani: fobiya (az)
• Belarusian: фо́бія f (fóbija)
• Bulgarian: фо́бия (bg) f (fóbija)
• Catalan: fòbia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 恐懼症／恐惧症 (zh) (kǒngjùzhèng)

• Corsican: fubia f, fubìa f
• Czech: fobie (cs) f
• Danish: fobi c
• Dutch: fobie (nl) f
• Esperanto: fobio
• Estonian: foobia (et)
• Finnish: fobia (fi), määräkohteinen pelko
• French: phobie (fr) f
• Georgian: შიში (šiši), ფობია (ka) (pobia)
• German: Phobie (de) f
• Greek: φοβία (el) f (fovía)
• Hebrew: פוביה (he) f (fóbya)
• Hindi: भीति (hi) f (bhīti)
• Hungarian: fóbia (hu)
• Irish: fóibe f
• Italian: fobia (it) f, paura (it) f, timore (it) m
• Japanese: 恐怖症 (ja) (きょうふしょう, kyōfushō)
• Kazakh: фобия (fobiä), қорқу (qorqu)
• Korean: 공포증 (ko) (gongpojeung)
• Latin: phobia f
• Latvian: fobija f
• Lithuanian: fobija f
• Macedonian: фо́бија f (fóbija)
• Maori: mae, mate mae
• Marathi: भीति f (bhīti)
• Norwegian: fobi (no) m
• Persian: ترس (fa) (tars), هراس (fa) (harâs)
• Polish: fobia (pl) f
• Portuguese: fobia (pt) f
• Romanian: fobie (ro) f
• Russian: фо́бия (ru) f (fóbija), боя́знь (ru) f (bojáznʹ)
• Sardinian: fobìa f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фо̀бија f

  Roman: fòbija (sh) f

• Slovak: fóbia (sk) f
• Slovene: fobija f
• Spanish: fobia (es) f
• Swedish: fobi (sv) c, skräck (sv) c
• Tagalog: takot
• Telugu: భయము (te) (bhayamu)
• Turkish: fobi (tr)
• Ukrainian: фо́бія f (fóbija)
• Welsh: ffobia (cy) m

See also

• Category:Phobias
• Appendix:English unattested phobias