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Definition of phobia noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

phobia

noun
 
/ˈfəʊbiə/
 
/ˈfəʊbiə/
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  1. a strong unreasonable fear of something
    • He has a phobia about flying.
    • One of the symptoms of the disease is water phobia.
    Extra Examples
    • He has a phobia of snakes.
    • Hypnotherapy is often used to overcome phobias.
    • I have a severe needle phobia.
    Topics Feelingsb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • needle
    • social
    • water
    verb + phobia
    • have
    • suffer from
    • develop
    preposition
    • phobia about something
    • phobia of something
    See full entry
  2. -phobia
    (in nouns) a strong unreasonable fear of or feeling of hate for a particular thing
    • claustrophobia (= fear of being in a small closed space)
    • xenophobia (= strong dislike or fear of people from other countries)
    compare -philia
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • needle
    • social
    • water
    verb + phobia
    • have
    • suffer from
    • develop
    preposition
    • phobia about something
    • phobia of something
    See full entry
  3. Word Originlate 18th cent.: independent usage of -phobia via Latin from Greek.
See phobia in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
ripple effect
noun
 
 
From the Topic
Change, cause and effect
C2
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