phobia
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a very strong and unreasonable fear of a particular thing or situation.
an intense, persistent, and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity that is often disproportionate to the actual danger.
Simple“Her phobia of heights meant she could never enjoy the view from the balcony.”
In context“Clinical phobias often require cognitive behavioural therapy to help patients manage the physiological symptoms triggered by their specific triggers.”
UsageCommonly follows the pattern 'phobia of [noun]' or appears as a suffix in words like 'claustrophobia'.
PitfallHe has a phobia from spiders. He has a phobia of spiders.Use the preposition 'of' to indicate the object of the fear.
- 02 C1 Advanced
a very strong dislike or a feeling that you want to avoid something.
a strong aversion or antipathy toward something, used less formally than the clinical sense.
Simple“He has a real phobia of modern technology and refuses to use a smartphone.”
In context“The director's well-known phobia of publicity made him a difficult subject for the documentary crew to track down.”
Teacher's tipIn casual conversation, people use this to mean a strong dislike rather than a medical condition.
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.