Definition of xenophobia
: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign
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xenophobia was our Word of the Day on 04/20/2013. Hear the podcast!
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Recent Examples of xenophobia from the Web
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Many of them touch on hot-button issues like white supremacy, xenophobia, state surveillance, and government repression of sexuality.
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In this op-ed, writer Prince Shakur explains how Donald Trump and his supporters have encouraged ideals of white supremacy and xenophobia, which are core parts of the American tradition.
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And the coal baron’s flagrant xenophobia — and habit of decrying Mitch McConnell as a cocaine dealer — means that the national Republican Party would likely do relatively little to boost Blankenship’s candidacy.
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Drucke said the association rejected all forms of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia and the glorification of violence.
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An M5S-League coalition would be eccentric, idealistic, tinged with xenophobia, intolerant of corruption and economically illiberal.
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Like The Problem with Apu, Breaking the Bee is a welcome antidote to the narrow-minded xenophobia that South Asian Americans continue to encounter in this country.
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Trump's recent tweets reflect much of the xenophobia and paranoia over both foreign threats and domestic treachery that underlay his campaign, and which still galvanize his hard-line support.
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The seeds of xenophobia are already planted as the fundamental theme of the drama.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'xenophobia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
If you look back to the ancient Greek terms that underlie the word xenophobia, you'll discover that xenophobic individuals are literally "stranger fearing." Xenophobia, that elegant-sounding name for an aversion to persons unfamiliar, ultimately derives from two Greek terms: xenos, which can be translated as either "stranger" or "guest," and phobos, which means either "fear" or "flight." Phobos is the ultimate source of all English -phobia terms, but many of those were actually coined in English or New Latin using the combining form -phobia (which traces back to phobos). Xenophobia itself came to us by way of New Latin and first appeared in print in English in the late 19th century.
Origin and Etymology of xenophobia
New Latin
Other Psychology Terms
XENOPHOBIA Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of xenophobia for English Language Learners
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: fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Medical Dictionary
medical Definition of xenophobia
: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign
Learn More about xenophobia
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See words that rhyme with xenophobia Spanish Central: Translation of xenophobia Nglish: Translation of xenophobia for Spanish speakers
Seen and Heard
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