phobia

[foh-bee-uh] /ˈfoʊ bi ə/
noun
1.
a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.
Origin
1780-90; extracted from nouns ending in -phobia
Synonyms
aversion, hatred.

-phobia

1.
a combining form meaning “fear,” occurring in loanwords from Greek (hydrophobia); on this model, used in the names of mental disorders that have the general sense “dread of, aversion toward” that specified by the initial element:
agoraphobia.
Origin
< Latin < Greek, equivalent to -phob(os) -phobe + -ia -ia
Examples from the web for phobia
  • My phobia? I'm totally scared of bridges.
  • And nothing would do that more than my phobia for heights.
  • This appears to be a result of the idea-phobia prevalent on many campuses.
  • The nation has a serious case of food phobia.
  • Then there are those who have a phobia or fear of flying.
  • Others might simply call it commitment phobia.
  • Many of those with driving phobias suffer from other phobias.
  • But really, I don't have a phobia so much as an aversion.
  • Friends, and girlfriends, would needle him about his phone phobia.
  • The phobia of course makes perfect sense strictly in the animal world.
British Dictionary definitions for phobia

phobia

/ˈfəʊbɪə/
noun
1.
(psychiatry) an abnormal intense and irrational fear of a given situation, organism, or object
Word Origin
C19: from Greek phobos fear

-phobia

combining form
1.
indicating an extreme abnormal fear of or aversion to: acrophobia, claustrophobia
Derived Forms
-phobic, combining_form:in_adjective
Word Origin
via Latin from Greek, from phobos fear
Word Origin and History for phobia
n.

"irrational fear, horror, aversion," 1786, perhaps on model of similar use in French, abstracted from compounds in -phobia, from Greek -phobia, from phobos "fear, panic fear, terror, outward show of fear; object of fear or terror," originally "flight" (still the only sense in Homer), but it became the common word for "fear" via the notion of "panic, fright" (cf. phobein "put to flight, frighten"), from PIE root *bhegw- "to run" (cf. Lithuanian begu "to flee;" Old Church Slavonic begu "flight," bezati "to flee, run;" Old Norse bekkr "a stream"). Psychological sense attested by 1895.

-phobia

word-forming element meaning "excessive or irrational fear of," from Latin -phobia and directly from Greek -phobia "panic fear of," from phobos "fear" (see phobia). In widespread popular use with native words from c.1800. Related: -phobic.

phobia in Medicine

phobia pho·bi·a (fō'bē-ə)
n.

  1. A persistent, abnormal, or irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid the feared stimulus.

  2. A strong fear, dislike, or aversion.

-phobia suff.
An intense, abnormal, or illogical fear of a specified thing: claustrophobia.

phobia in Culture
phobia [(foh-bee-uh)]

An extreme and often unreasonable fear of some object, concept, situation, or person.