phobias

noun

plural of phobia
as in panics
an extremely strong dislike or fear of someone or something His fear of crowds eventually developed into a phobia.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of phobias Cage plays Roy, a gifted con artist with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose tics, phobias and elaborate rituals have turned his immaculate home into a fortress against the world. — Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026 Turns out that the star had quite the number of phobias to conquer. — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026 Left untreated, anxiety in dogs tends to escalate into phobias, which are far harder to address. — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 July 2026 Are people with extreme anxiety and phobias dangerous to the people around them? — Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 15 Apr. 2026 This, Wright imagined, was one way Proxi might display its analysis of players’ minds, an aerial map of loves, phobias, triumphs, losses, pets, and near misses plus all the associations connecting them. — Eric Boodman, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026 Despite all these benefits, snakes are among humans’ top phobias. — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 15 Mar. 2026 The circumstances made the role ill-suited to Bennett, and everyone knew that Shawn was beset by phobias. — Literary Hub, 12 Jan. 2026 For people with shark phobias—likely traumatized by movies like Jaws—such advances could help make getting in the water a little easier. — IEEE Spectrum, 18 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phobias
  1. terrors
  2. frights
Noun
  • The woods could be hiding places of witches and sorcerers, disguised as the old and feeble, but capable of summoning wonder and terrors, charms as well as curses.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 July 2026
  • Which iconic horrors will return to haunt the hallowed halls of 13 and what new terrors await?
    — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 10 July 2026
Definition of terrors
Noun
  • In the movie, a group of teens accidentally release a bunch of monsters from Stine’s book collection, creating complete havoc and plenty of great family-friendly frights.
    — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026
  • And some of the film’s most impressive frights take place in the dentist’s chair, veering into serious body-horror territory.
    — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of frights

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Cite this Entry

“Phobias.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phobias. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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