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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 traditional liberal stance, its damning mildness, its toothless threats, proves no match for the virulence of the xenophobia that has launched a thousand wars. — Jenny Offill, The New York Review of Books, "Seeing Too Clearly," 3 Nov. 2020 Using these terms normalizes anti-Asian bias and promotes xenophobia. — Minhae Shim Roth, Good Housekeeping, "How to Stand in Solidarity with the Asian Community During the Pandemic," 13 Oct. 2020 For the media, as Eric Weinstein notes, pressing the right buttons — playing up xenophobia and white supremacy when discussing immigration and police reform — results in better business (in the short term, of course). — John Loftus, National Review, "The Movement against Elites," 2 Nov. 2020 With no ground game, McSally has tried the distinctly Trumpian strategy of linking Kelly to the anti-China xenophobia surrounding the coronavirus. — Tom Zoellner, The New Republic, "Trumpism Ate Martha McSally’s Brain," 12 Oct. 2020 Canadians pride themselves on a liberal immigration system welcoming to an array of ethnicities and nationalities, contrasting their attitude with what many see as xenophobia in their neighbor to the south. — Catherine Porter, New York Times, "Virus Hits Foreign Farmhands, Challenging Canadians’ Self-Image," 11 Oct. 2020 In the United States, the idea of Columbus Day was promoted by Italian immigrants trying to project a sense of belonging in the face of sometimes violent xenophobia. — Stefano Pitrelli, Washington Post, "Much of America has stopped celebrating Columbus Day, but the explorer remains revered in Italy," 11 Oct. 2020 That attitude has been apparent in the volunteers rallying around Chinatown, where initially some xenophobia surrounding the coronavirus cut into the already thin margins at shops and restaurants. — Corina Knoll, New York Times, "How New Yorkers Found Resolve After 6 Months of Pandemic Hardship," 23 Sep. 2020 These books confirm that the language and practice of xenophobia in American politics have been remarkably consistent. — Julia Preston, The New York Review of Books, "Deportation Nation," 22 Sep. 2020

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.