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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.

Examples of xenophobia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The most important of these, more pressing than ever in the age of sensationalistic social media, is to figure out how imagery can foster values such as tolerance and cooperation instead of fomenting xenophobia and conflict. — Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 19 May 2021 Across the country, more than 3,795 hate incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that tracks incidents of discrimination, hate, and xenophobia against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., during the past year. — Sarah Midkiff, refinery29.com, 30 Mar. 2021 From March 2020 to February 2021, Stop AAPI Hate, a group that tracks discrimination and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, received nearly 3,800 reports of anti-Asian hate. — Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 22 Mar. 2021 While many businesses have struggled over the past year, Asian American businesses have been hit disproportionately hard, fueled by discrimination and xenophobia. — Holly Yan, CNN, 22 Mar. 2021 AAPI Hate, a group that tracks acts of discrimination and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, found nearly 3,800 incidents of hate, discrimination or attacks on Asian Americans from March 2020 through February 2021. — Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2021 The objective of Free Life is to destroy the galanthi; their hatred is a mix of xenophobia and religiosity, not unlike the Victorian purists. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 17 May 2021 The pandemic saw a spike in xenophobia against Asians. — Esther Mollica, Wired, 3 May 2021 Today, German coronavirus skeptics insist that their objection is free from bigotry and xenophobia. — Edna Bonhomme, The Atlantic, 2 May 2021

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.