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-phobe

  1. a combining form used to form personal nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -phobia:

    Anglophobe.



-phobe

combining form

  1. indicating a person or thing that fears or hates

    xenophobe

    Germanophobe

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • -phobic, combining_form:in_adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of -phobe1

From Greek -phobos, adjectival derivative of óDz “panic fear”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of -phobe1

from Greek -phobos fearing

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Words That Use -phobe

does -phobe mean?

The combining form -phobe is used like a suffix to indicate the personal noun form of words that use the form -phobia, meaning “fear.” The form -phobe roughly means “someone with a fear.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in psychology and biology.

The form -phobe comes from Greek óDz, meaning “fear” or “panic.” The Latin translation is timor, “fear,” which is the source of words such as timid and timorous.

are variants of –phobe?

A less common variant of -phobe is -phobiac, as in agoraphobiac.

The form -phobe is also related to two other combining forms: -phobia and -phobic. Want to know more? Check out our Words that Use articles for each form.

Examples of -phobe

An example of a scientific term that features -phobe is hydrophobe, “a hydrophobic, or water-repelling, substance.”

The hydro- part of the word likely looks familiar; it means “water,” from Greek ýō. The -phobe part of the term means “someone with a fear,” and hydrophobe literally translates to “water-fearer.”

are some words that use the combining form –phobe?

are some other forms that -phobe may be commonly confused with?

Break it down!

The combining form xeno- means “alien” or “strange.” With this in mind, what does xenophobe mean?

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