phobia
Syllables: pho·bia/ˈfəʊ.bi.ə/US/ˈfoʊ.bi.ə/
phobia noun: an irrational, abnormal, or obsessive fear (of something).
Noun
phobia (plural phobias or phobiae or phobiæ)
- An irrational, abnormal, or obsessive fear (of something).
- I know someone with a strange phobia of ladders.
- It was when anthropophobia set in, when he was made uneasy by people who walked too close to him, that, sagely viewing his list and seeing how many phobias were now checked, he permitted himself to rest.1925, Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith
- An aversion or dislike (of something).
- 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 […]1914, McClure's Magazine, page 140
- For some children and their parents, however, it can be difficult to determine when fears are typical and when they are developing into more serious phobias or anxiety disorders. […] But once fears become debilitating or impair daily function, they can be classified as a phobia or anxiety disorder...2025 February 5, Julianna Bragg, “Does my child have an anxiety disorder? Here are the signs parents should look out for”, in CNN
phobia meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Bengali
phobia in Hindi
- irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety
- भीति bhīti, फ़ोबिया fobiyā, फोबिया phobiyā
phobia in Tamil
- பயம், அச்சம், ஞொள், வெருளி, உளநோய் வடிவெடுக்கும் அச்சக் கோளாறு, வெருட்சி
phobia in Marathi
- irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety
- भीति bhīti
phobia in Bengali
- কোনো বস্তু
More languagesFewer languages
- phobia in Telugu
- భయము bhayamu
- phobia in Malayalam
- പതിവിൽ കവിഞ്ഞ ഭയം, അസാധാരണ വെറുപ്പ്, അസാധാരണ ഭീതി
- phobia in Kannada
- ಹೆದರಿಕೆ, ಅಂಜಿಕೆ, ಭಯ, ಭೀತಿ
- phobia in Assamese
- ভয় bhoy
- phobia in Tagalog
- takot, pobya
- phobia in Arabic
- رُهَاب ruhāb, فُوبِيَا fūbiyā
- phobia in Malay
- fobia
- phobia in Indonesian
- fobia, fobi, pobia
- phobia in Thai
- โรคกลัว rôok-gluua, โฟเบีย foo-biia
- phobia in Vietnamese
- ám ảnh sợ, hội chứng sợ
Examples of phobia in a sentence
- Many patients can extinguish their phobias after a few months of treatment.
- He was mostly over his phobia of dogs, but sometimes the sight of a dog still gave him a flutter of terror.
- There's many phobias that I don't understand, but I always try to respect them!
Forms of phobia
| plural | phobias |
|---|---|
| plural | phobiae |
| plural | phobiæ |
Origin of phobia
First attested in c. 1790, from words ending in -phobia, ultimately from Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear”). Compare ism, from -ism, itis, from -itis, and ana, from -ana.
Words formed from phobia
Phrases with phobia
Words that rhyme with phobia
- aerophobia
- gerontophobia
- homophobia
- hydrophobia
- -phobia
- agoraphobia
- bathophobia
- Francophobia
- radiophobia
- uxorophobia
- xanthophobia
- xenophobia
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- ablutophobia
- acephobia
- acousticophobia
- acrophobia
- adverbophobia
- agraphobia
- aibohphobia
- aichmophobia
- algophobia
- altophobia
- amathophobia
- amaxophobia
- ambulophobia
- androphobia
- anthophobia
- aphobia
- apiphobia
- arachibutyrophobia
- arachnophobia
- astraphobia
- astrophobia
- aviatophobia
- aviophobia
- bacillophobia
- batrachophobia
- botanophobia
- brontophobia
- bryobia
- cacophobia
- cancerphobia
- carcinophobia
- claustrophobia
- clinophobia
- clithrophobia
- coulrophobia
- cynophobia
- decidophobia
- emetophobia
- epistolophobia
- erotophobia
- eurotophobia
- gephyrophobia
- graphophobia
- gymnophobia
- gynophobia
- heliophobia
- hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
- hippophobia
Questions about phobia
- What does phobia mean?
- Phobia means an irrational, abnormal, or obsessive fear (of something).
- What is phobia in Hindi?
- Phobia in Hindi is भीति (bhīti), फ़ोबिया (fobiyā), फोबिया (phobiyā). See Phobia meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is phobia?
- Phobia is a noun.
- How do you pronounce phobia?
- Phobia is pronounced /ˈfəʊ.bi.ə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of phobia?
- The plural of phobia is phobias.
Words near phobia in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phobia (page history and authors); phobia (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phobia (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phobia (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phobia (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ভয় (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-phobia.wav.
Cite this entry: “phobia.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phobia. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.