homophobia

ho·mo·pho·bia
H4O1M3O1P3H4O1B3I1A1
UK/ˌhəʊ.məˈfəʊ.bi.ə/UK/ˌhɒ.mə-/US/ˌhoʊ.məˈfoʊ.bi.ə/

noun

Hatred, fear, aversion, or prejudice towards homosexuals.

“A beautiful cat with homophobia in her 💙 eyes 🧡”

Similar
gay-hategaycismgayphobiaheterosexismhomoerotophobiahomomisiahomophobismLGBTphobia
Opposite
homomania
OriginAncient Greek φόβος (phóbos) ← Proto-Hellenic *pʰógʷos ← Proto-Indo-European *bʰógʷos →
Less commonFirst used 1971Scrabble 22
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Meanings

homophobia1

nounhomophobia (countable and uncountable, plural homophobias)

plural homophobias

  1. countableuncountablestrictlyHatred, fear, aversion, or prejudice towards homosexuals.First known use 1971

    Thinly-veiled homophobia – this time in early-2000s Hollywood – made Brokeback Mountain an immense challenge for Ossana and her fellow producer James Schamus.

    2025 June 20, Nick Levine, “'In every theatre, people would leave': How 'gay cowboy movie' Brokeback Mountain challenged Hollywood – and the US”, in BBC
    1 more example

    He lost his racism when he worked with a black man in Chicago. He lost his homophobia when he was befriended and looked after by his gay neighbors, a doctor and a nurse, in Little Rock.

    2005, Bill Clinton, My Life, volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 45–46

    Synonyms: gay-hate, gaycism, gayphobia, heterosexism, homoerotophobia, homomisia, homophobism · Antonyms: homomania

  2. broadlycountableuncountableHatred, fear, aversion, or prejudice towards LGBTQ people in general.

    Synonyms: LGBTphobia, LGBTQphobia, queerphobia

  3. InternetcountabledeliberatehumorousmisspellinguncountableDeliberate misspelling of heterochromia.First known use 2021

    A beautiful cat with homophobia in her 💙 eyes 🧡

    2 more examples

    A dog with homophobia in its eyes ✨✨

    2023 September 11, @Radstads, Twitter

    beautiful rabbit with homophobia

    2025 August 2, anonymous author, /vg/ - Video Game Generals, 4chan, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2025

homophobia2

nounhomophobia (uncountable)
  1. obsoleteuncountableA pathological fear of mankind.

    Synonyms: anthropophobia

Synonyms & antonyms

nounHatred, fear, aversion, or prejudice towards homosexuals.

Similar
gay-hategaycismgayphobiaheterosexismhomoerotophobiahomomisiahomophobism
Opposite
homomania

nounHatred, fear, aversion, or prejudice towards LGBTQ people in general.

Similar
LGBTphobiaLGBTQphobiaqueerphobia

nounA pathological fear of mankind.

Similar
anthropophobia
Also see
gaycismgay-hategayismgayphobiaheteronormativityhomomisiahomosexophobiaqueer bashing

Origin

homophobia · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*somHós
  3. Proto-Hellenic*homós
  4. Ancient Greekὁμός (homós)
  5. Germanhomo-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*séks-u-s
  8. Proto-Italic*seksus
  9. Proto-Indo-European*sek-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*sékh₁yeti
  11. Proto-Italic*sekaō
  12. Latinsecō
  13. Latinsecāre?
  14. Latinsexus
  15. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  16. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  17. Latinsexuālis
  18. Germansexual
  19. Germanhomosexua
  20. Englishhomosexualbf.
  21. Englishhomo-
  22. Proto-Indo-European*bʰógʷos
  23. Proto-Hellenic*pʰógʷos
  24. Ancient Greekφόβος (phóbos)
  25. Englishhomophobia

From homo- (short for and prefix of homosexual) + -phobia. Coined by American psychologist George Weinberg in 1971 in Society and the Healthy Homosexual.

Full word history & related roots →

homophobia · noun

  1. Latinhomo“man”
  2. Englishhomophobia

Latin homo (“man”) + -phobia (“fear”)

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic رُهَاب اَلْمِثْلِيَّة, هُومُوفُوبِيَا
  • رُهَاب اَلْمِثْلِيَّة (ruhāb al-miṯliyya)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • هُومُوفُوبِيَا (humufūbiyā, homofobiyā)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Bulgarian хомофо́бия
  • хомофо́бия (homofóbija)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Catalan homofòbia, antropofòbia
  • homofòbiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • antropofòbiapathological fear of mankind
Chinese Mandarin 同性戀恐懼症 /同性恋恐惧症, 恐同
  • 同性戀恐懼症 /同性恋恐惧症 (tóngxìngliàn kǒngjùzhèng)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • 恐同 (kǒngtóng)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • 恐同症 (kǒngtóngzhèng)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Czech homofobie
  • homofobiefear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Danish homofobi
  • homofobifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Dutch homofobie
  • homofobiefear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Esperanto kontraŭsamseksemo, gejfobio
  • kontraŭsamseksemofear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • gejfobiofear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • homofobiofear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Estonian homofoobia
  • homofoobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Finnish homofobia, homokammo
  • homofobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • homokammofear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • homovihafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • antropofobiapathological fear of mankind
French homophobie
  • homophobiefear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
German Homophobie, Homofeindlichkeit
  • Homophobiefear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • Homofeindlichkeitfear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • Schwulenfeindlichkeitfear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • Anthropophobiepathological fear of mankind
Greek ομοφοβία
  • ομοφοβία (omofovía)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Hebrew הוֹמוֹפוֹבְּיָה
  • הוֹמוֹפוֹבְּיָהfear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Hindi होमोफोबिया
  • होमोफोबिया (homophobiyā)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Hungarian homofóbia
  • homofóbiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Icelandic hommafælni, ótti við samkynhneigð
  • hommafælnifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • ótti við samkynhneigðfear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • hommahaturfear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Indonesian homofobia
  • homofobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Irish homafóibe
  • homafóibefear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Italian omofobia
  • omofobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Japanese ホモフォビア, 同性愛嫌悪
  • ホモフォビア (homofobia)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • 同性愛嫌悪 (dōseiai ken'o)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Korean 호모포비아, 동성애 혐오
  • 호모포비아 (homopobia)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • 동성애 혐오 (dongseong'ae hyeomo)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Latin homophobia
  • homophobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Latvian homofobija
  • homofobijafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Lithuanian homofobija
  • homofobijafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Māori mae takatāpui
  • mae takatāpuifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Norwegian Bokmål homofobi
  • homofobifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Persian هوموفوبیا, همجنسگراهراسی
  • هوموفوبیا (humufubiyâ)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • همجنسگراهراسی (hamjens-garâ-harâsi)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • همجنسگراستیزی (hamjens-garâ-setizi)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Polish homofobia
  • homofobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Portuguese homofobia, homofobia
  • homofobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
  • homofobiapathological fear of mankind
Romanian homofobie
  • homofobiefear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Russian гомофо́бия
  • гомофо́бия (gomofóbija)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Slovak homofóbia
  • homofóbiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Spanish homofobia
  • homofobiafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Swahili ubaguzi wa mashoga
  • ubaguzi wa mashogafear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Swedish homofobi
  • homofobifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Thai โฮโมโฟเบีย
  • โฮโมโฟเบีย (hoo-moo-foo-bìia)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Turkish homofobi
  • homofobifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Ukrainian гомофо́бія
  • гомофо́бія (homofóbija)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Urdu ہوموفوبیا
  • ہوموفوبیا (homofobyā)fear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals
Vietnamese ghê sợ đồng tính luyến ái
  • ghê sợ đồng tính luyến áifear, dislike, or hate of homosexuals

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with homophobia

phobiaxenophobiaagoraphobiaclaustrophobiaaphobiaZenobiaphotophobiaarachnophobiaacrophobiahydrophobiaablutophobiaacephobiaacousticophobiaadverbophobiaaerophobiaagraphobiaaibohphobiaaichmophobiaalgophobiaaltophobiaamathophobiaamaxophobiaambulophobiaandrophobia
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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