globophobia

G2L1O1B3O1P3H4O1B3I1A1

noun

Fear or dislike of globalization.

Scrabble 21

Meanings

nounglobophobia (uncountable)
  1. uncountableFear or dislike of globalization.

    People are dangerously suffering from globophobia says a senior floor trader in New York.

    2005, Human Rights in a Developing Society, →ISBN, page 25
    4 more examples

    Although some have dismissed such fears as “globophobia”, globalization has come under greater critical public scrutiny.

    2003, Albrecht Schnabel, Jan Aart Scholte, Civil Society and Global Finance, →ISBN, page 252

    'Globophobia may constitute a satisfying political response to the complex challenges of globalisation for some, but it does not constitute a credible policy response capable of shaping the actions of governments'.

    2005, Rowan Gill, Theology and Globalisation: A Commentary, →ISBN, page 35

    Discourses of globalization initially were polarized into pro or con “globophilia” that celebrates globalization contrasted to globophobia that attacks it.

    2007, Ino Rossi, Frontiers of Globalization Research, →ISBN

    Those who can be said to suffer from globophobia include those who adopt both far right and far left political positions.

    2008, George Ritzer, The Blackwell Companion to Globalization, →ISBN, page 16
  2. uncountableExtreme fear of balloons.

    But globophobia (fear of balloons), lutraphobia (fear of otters) and octophobia (fear of the figure eight), are a little harder to understand.

    2008 October 1, “Scared of this? You must be lutraphobic”, in The Daily Mail
    5 more examples

    “You see,” replied Mull, “Scornsbury is a very talented writer—very talented. However, he suffers from globophobia.” “Globophobia?” “Yes, globophobia—an extreme fear of balloons.”

    2012, Deron R. Hicks, Secrets of Shakespeare's Grave: The Shakespeare Mysteries, →ISBN, page 85

    "Don't tell me you have somekind of phobia about hot air balloons.” “Not exactly. I mean, I don't have globophobia, which is fear of balloons, and I don't have megaglobophobia, which is fear of really big balloons..."

    2012, Suzanne Selfors, Smells Like Pirates, →ISBN

    She confessed to having a strange fear of balloons. Big mistake. That was all I needed to hear. […] I didn't think the fear of balloons was a real affliction until I wandered across globophobia in my research. Some people just experience a vague uneasieness around them, others actually fear deflated ones.

    2013, Rodney Curtis, Getting Laid (Off), →ISBN

    Balloons themselves may not create fear or alarm, unless one is unfortunate to be afflicted with globophobia (Freed), but the visual metaphor of the balloon in the social marketing campaign had a range of alarmist meanings.

    2015, Lily O'Hara, Jane Taylor, Margaret Barnes, “We Are All Ballooning: Multimedia Critical Discourse Analysis of 'Measure Up' and 'Swap It, Don't Stop It' Social Marketing Campaigns”, in M/C Journal, volume 18, number 3, →DOI

    He had been given a balloon by his Human with the number 9 on it and the words "Happy Birthday!!!" along the top, clearly with little concern for his globophobia. He eyed it with suspicion as it glided disconcertingly from one room to the next, neither on the floor nor the ceiling, a big red cushion of evil, its every detail, from its alarming turgidity to its thoughtless smattering of exclamation marks, rending him tense and uncomfortable.

    2016, Alex Howard, Library Cat: The Observations of a Thinking Cat, →ISBN

Origin

From Latin globus (“sphere”) + -o- + -phobia, equivalent to globe + -o- + -phobia.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

globophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/globophobia

MLA

“globophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/globophobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “globophobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/globophobia.

Source: globophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.