phobia /fō″bē·ə/ [Gk, phobos, fear] , an obsessive, irrational, and intense fear of a specific object, such as an animal or dirt; of an activity, such as meeting strangers or leaving the familiar setting of the home; or of a physical situation, such as heights and open or closed spaces. Typical manifestations of phobia include faintness, fatigue, palpitations, perspiration, nausea, tremor, and panic. Also called phobic anxiety, phobic disorder, phobic reaction. Compare compulsion. Kinds include agoraphobia, algophobia, claustrophobia, erythrophobia, gynephobia, lalophobia, mysophobia, nyctophobia, photophobia, xenophobia, zoophobia. See also simple phobia, social phobia. −phobic, adj.
