| 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. |
| -phobia suff. An intense, abnormal, or illogical fear of a specified thing: xenophobia. [Late Latin, from Greek -phobiā, from phobos, fear; see bhegw- in Indo-European roots.] |
-phobia suff.
An intense, abnormal, or illogical fear of a specified thing: claustrophobia.
