as in panic
an extremely strong dislike or fear of someone or something
His fear of crowds eventually developed into a phobia.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of phobia
Unexplained phobias or aversions have also been thought to have been transferred over from a past existence.
—
Saskia Solomon, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2025
Alleging Child Labor Abuse Interestingly, these reports also mention phobias or preferences that are associated with the past life’s mode of death or lifestyle.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
Happy memories were pleasant, but others led to phobias (of bird droppings, for instance).
—Matthew Hutson, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
Luckily, there’s a cure for those suffering from forest fire phobia.
—Josh Schlossberg, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for phobia 
Saskia Solomon, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2025
Alleging Child Labor Abuse Interestingly, these reports also mention phobias or preferences that are associated with the past life’s mode of death or lifestyle.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
Happy memories were pleasant, but others led to phobias (of bird droppings, for instance).
—Matthew Hutson, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2024
Luckily, there’s a cure for those suffering from forest fire phobia.
—Josh Schlossberg, The Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for phobia
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phobia
Noun
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People who are impacted by natural disaster may feel a strong sense of grief, panic, loss, fear and sadness, according to the University of Houston's Department of Psychology.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
17 Jan. 2025
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By the end of the 90-minute debate, those who had been able to bear sticking around were in a panic.—
Annie Karni,
New York Times,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Washington — Justice Department lawyers and defense attorneys for the three men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks squared off before a federal appeals court Tuesday in a court fight over whether plea agreements reached with the defendants last summer can go forward.—
Melissa Quinn,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2025
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In exchange, Israel released 121 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment for deadly terror attacks and an additional 79 prisoners serving lengthy sentences.—
Efrat Lachter,
Fox News,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The film costars Jamie Foxx, who is making a comeback of his own after a startling 2023 health scare forced his retreat from acting.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
24 Jan. 2025
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Forget about sonic devices, essential oils, and other scare devices to repel chipmunks.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Then the widespread anxiety spurred by a wave of high-profile robberies and the deadly home-invasion of Jacqueline Avant.—
Gary Baum,
The Hollywood Reporter,
18 Jan. 2025
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The situation caused Campbell a lot of anxiety, but became a pivotal shift in her perspective.—
Kait Hanson,
Glamour,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In a second Instagram Stories post, the singer offered another look at the cake, featuring a large bust of a clicker, the fungal zombie-esque frights from the Last of Us video game franchise and HBO series of the same name.—
Gil Macias,
People.com,
13 Jan. 2025
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The Vanishing will have no shortage of frights, action and bizarre phenomena.—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
7 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near phobia
Cite this Entry
“Phobia.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phobia. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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