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The agora was the marketplace in ancient Greece; thus, agoraphobia often involves fear of public places and crowds. But it also may involve fear of being in shops, or even fear of being in open spaces, or fear of traveling alone. It may also be a fear of experiencing some uncontrollable or embarrassing event (like fainting) in the presence of others with no help available. Agoraphobia can be hard to understand for those who don't suffer from it, especially because it can take so many different forms, but it is often a serious and socially crippling condition.

Examples of agoraphobia in a Sentence

a patient suffering from agoraphobia

Recent Examples on the Web Jackson has missed family weddings, birthdays and even funerals because of agoraphobia. — David Begnaud, CBS News, 4 Apr. 2022 The dogs became her main companions, hunkering down with her at home as her reclusiveness veered into agoraphobia. — Lauren Smiley, Wired, 8 Mar. 2022 Angela suffers from acute anxiety and agoraphobia following an assault, and thus never leaves her lavish Seattle apartment, which is technologically optimized for perpetual isolation. — Vikram Murthi, The Week, 11 Feb. 2022 None of the usual diagnoses—depression, anxiety or agoraphobia—explained her withdrawal, which continued after medications stabilized her mood. — Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2022 Most people with agoraphobia use avoidance as a way to prevent anxiety or panic attacks from happening outside of their safe spaces. — Eleesha Lockett, SELF, 8 Nov. 2021 Because of this, agoraphobia can be as mild as avoiding a certain grocery store, or as severe as being completely unable to leave the home. — Eleesha Lockett, SELF, 8 Nov. 2021 Her ability to interact with the world in those difficult days was limited by a type of agoraphobia. — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020 Her ability to interact with the world in those difficult days was limited by a type of agoraphobia. — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'agoraphobia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for agoraphobia

borrowed from German Agoraphobie, from Greek agorā-, combining form of agorá "place of assembly, agora entry 1" + German -phobie -phobia

Note: The term was introduced by the German neurologist and psychiatrist Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833-90) in "Die Agoraphobie, eine neuropathische Erscheinung," Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, Band 3, Heft 1 (1871), pp. 138-161. Westphal gives as his vernacular equivalent Platzfurcht.

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