homophobia

ho·mo·pho·bia | \ ˌhō-mə-ˈfō-bē-ə

How to pronounce homophobia (audio)

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Definition of homophobia

: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals

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Examples of homophobia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Critics — gay and straight — called the show far too cautious, especially at a time when AIDS was becoming a full-blown crisis in America and homophobia was widespread. — BostonGlobe.com, "Jerry Herman, the Broadway composer-lyricist who gave America the rousing, old-fashioned musicals “Hello, Dolly!” and “Mame” in the 1960s and Broadway’s first musical featuring gay lovers, “La Cage aux Folles,” in the 1980s, died Thursday at a hospital in Miami. He was 88.," 31 Dec. 2019 Critics — gay and straight — called the show far too cautious, especially at a time when AIDS was becoming a full-blown crisis in America and homophobia was widespread. — Robert D. Mcfadden, New York Times, "Jerry Herman, Composer of ‘Hello, Dolly!’ and Other Broadway Hits, Dies at 88," 27 Dec. 2019 Those of us in the LGBTQ community most certainly were aware of his trans and homophobia long long ago. — Eric Bangeman, Ars Technica, "2019’s most commented stories on Ars Technica—and their top comments!," 25 Dec. 2019 That assessment sparked criticism, with Jonathan Capehart in the Washington Post and Charles M. Blow in the Times both contesting the idea that black homophobia was to blame for Buttigieg’s poor showing. — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, "The 2020 Democrats Converge on Atlanta, Signalling Georgia’s New Political Importance," 20 Nov. 2019 However, Le Graet insisted that homophobia is a problem in the entirety of France, so to suggest there is a just a problem in football is, to him, ludicrous. — SI.com, "Antoine Griezmann Insists Games Should Be Stopped if Racist or Homophobic Chanting Is Heard," 11 Sep. 2019 There were street demonstrations, meetings with San Francisco officials, letter-writing campaigns—all targeting Pacific Bell for its overt homophobiaThe activism worked. — Nick Lehr, Quartz at Work, "The unique role corporations played in the fight for LGBTQ rights," 18 Nov. 2019 Sir Elton John has no tolerance for homophobia, and now the legend has blamed social media for allowing hate speech to slide on their platforms. — Abby Jones, Billboard, "Elton John Calls on Fans to Boycott Social Media Over Homophobic Hate Speech," 11 June 2018 In these poems, Skeets reckons with homophobia and loneliness and death and murder. — Nick Martin, The New Republic, "Jake Skeets Finds the Beauty in Brutality," 30 Sep. 2019

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

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Last Updated

18 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Homophobia.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homophobia. Accessed 21 January 2020.

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