hydrophobe

H4Y4D2R1O1P3H4O1B3E1

noun

A hydrophobic compound or material.

Scrabble 24

Meanings

nounhydrophobe (plural hydrophobes)

plural hydrophobes

  1. Someone who is affected by hydrophobia (a fear or aversion to water).

    The shock of the meeting triremes was tremendous, and in a moment the poor little hydrophobes were spluttering in the pond: […]

    1861 September 7, “Tale of the Tub”, in The Living Age, volume XIV (third series), number 901, Boston, M.A.: Littell, Son, & Co., →OCLC, page 613, column 1
    1 more example

    If I talk to 10 people, there is usually a fellow hydrophobe among them. It is hard to pick them out, because a person who is afraid of water looks very much like a normal person. But, from talking with fellow hydrophobes, I have discovered something we almost all share: more times than not, our fear of water stems from one intensely bad experience that came during our childhoods.

    2006 July 2, Frank Gannon, “The Deep”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jan 2018

    Synonyms: aquaphobe, waterfunk

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSomeone who is affected by hydrophobia (a fear or aversion to water).

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekὑδροφόβος
  2. Latinhydrophobus
  3. Frenchhydrophobe
  4. Englishhydrophobe

Borrowed from French hydrophobe, from Latin hydrophobus, from Ancient Greek ὑδροφόβος (hudrophóbos), from ὑδρο- (hudro-, “water”) + φόβος (phóbos, “fear, dread”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Italian idrofobo
  • idrofobohydrophobic compound or material
Polish hydrofob
  • hydrofobhydrophobic compound or material
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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