Library / English Dictionary

PHOBIA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations

Example:

phobic disorder is a general term for all phobias

Synonyms:

phobia; phobic disorder; phobic neurosis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("phobia" is a kind of...):

anxiety disorder (a cover term for a variety of mental disorders in which severe anxiety is a salient symptom)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "phobia"):

agoraphobia (a morbid fear of open spaces (as fear of being caught alone in some public place))

simple phobia (any phobia (other than agoraphobia) associated with relatively simple well-defined stimuli)

social phobia (any phobia (other than agoraphobia) associated with situations in which you are subject to criticism by others (as fear of eating in public or public speaking etc))

Derivation:

phobic (suffering from irrational fears)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder.

(Phobias, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

Other common phobias involve tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, animals and blood.

(Phobias, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

There are many specific phobias.

(Phobias, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)