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-phobe
- a combining form used to form personal nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -phobia:
Anglophobe.
-phobe
combining form
- indicating a person or thing that fears or hates
xenophobe
Germanophobe
Derived Forms
- -phobic, combining_form:in_adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of -phobe1
Word History and Origins
Origin of -phobe1
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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?
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