A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. [7][8][9][1] Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. [1] The meaning of PHOBIA is an exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation.

Understanding the Context

How to use phobia in a sentence. A phobia is when something causes you to feel fear or anxiety that’s so severe it consistently and overwhelmingly disrupts your life. Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder, and there’s one diagnosis for almost all of them: specific phobia. Only one phobia, agoraphobia, is a specific diagnosis.

Key Insights

What is phobia? A phobia is a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an object, person, animal, activity, or situation. It is a type of anxiety disorder. A person with a phobia either tries to avoid the thing that triggers the fear, or endures it with great anxiety and distress. Some ...

Final Thoughts

PHOBIA definition: an intense, persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, situation, or person that manifests in physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, or shortness of breath, and that motivates avoidance behavior. See examples of phobia used in a sentence. While anxiety is natural under some circumstances, people with phobias feel fear that is out of proportion to the actual danger presented by the situation or object. Add to word list an extreme fear of a particular thing or situation, esp. one that does not have a reasonable explanation: a phobia about heights (Definition of phobia from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press) A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that involves intense, ongoing fear of a certain object, situation, activity, or environment. 1 While we all experience fear, phobias are much more severe.