xenophobia

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UK/ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/US/ˌziː.nəˈfoʊ.bi.ə/US/ˌzɛn.əˈfoʊ.bi.ə/

noun

A fear, antipathy, or hatred of strangers or foreigners.

Similar
Less commonScrabble 24

Meanings

nounxenophobia (countable and uncountable, plural xenophobias)

plural xenophobias · alternative xenofobia

  1. countableuncountableA fear, antipathy, or hatred of strangers or foreigners.

    The United States is not the only country where xenophobia pays dividends for politicians.

    2021 March 19, Frida Ghitis, “The GOP’s xenophobia is fueling toxic culture of hate”, in CNN
    2 more examples

    The great sociologist Zygmunt Bauman argued that philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism both fall under “allosemitism”: literally Othering the Jew. He defined it not as resentment of what is different, which is xenophobia, but rather of what defies order and clear categories. In 1997, he wrote, “The Jew is ambivalence incarnate. And ambivalence is ambivalence mostly because it cannot be contemplated without ambivalent feeling: it is simultaneously attractive and repelling.”

    2020 January 28, Mairov Zonszein, “Christian Zionist philo-Semitism is driving Trump’s Israel policy”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 30 Jan 2020

    Like the Communist party before it, the Front National claimed to speak for the “working class”. The class enemy was rebranded from “bourgeoisie” to “elite”, communist xenophobia about “international capital” was supplemented with xenophobia against immigrants, and the proletariat had to ally with former adversaries such as small business owners, but the essential claim of working-class dignity remained intact.

    2025 September 13, Simon Kuper, “How Maga rewrote the Little Red Book”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18
  2. countablenonstandardrareuncountableliteratureA fear of aliens.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar

Origin

  1. Proto-Hellenic*ksénwos
  2. Ancient Greekξένϝος (xénwos)
  3. Ancient Greekξένος (xénos)
  4. Englishxeno-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*bʰógʷos
  6. Proto-Hellenic*pʰógʷos
  7. Ancient Greekφόβος (phóbos)
  8. Englishxenophobia

From xeno- + -phobia.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans xenofobie
  • xenofobiea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Arabic رُهَاب الْأَجَانِب, كَرْه الْأَجَانِب
  • رُهَاب الْأَجَانِب (ruhāb al-ʔajānib)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • كَرْه الْأَجَانِب (karh al-ʔajānib)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Basque xenofobia
  • xenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Bulgarian ксенофо́бия
  • ксенофо́бия (ksenofóbija)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Catalan xenofòbia
  • xenofòbiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Chinese Mandarin 排外主義 /排外主义, 仇外
  • 排外主義 /排外主义 (páiwàizhǔyì)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 仇外 (chóuwài)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 排外 (páiwài)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 外國人恐懼症 /外国人恐惧症 (wàiguórén kǒngjùzhèng)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Czech xenofobie
  • xenofobiea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Danish xenofobi, fremmedfrygt
  • xenofobia pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • fremmedfrygta pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • fremmedangsta pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • fremmedhada pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Dutch xenofobie, vreemdelingenhaat
  • xenofobiea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • vreemdelingenhaata pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Esperanto ksenofobio
  • ksenofobioa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Estonian ksenofoobia
  • ksenofoobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Finnish ksenofobia, muukalaisviha
  • ksenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • muukalaisvihaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
French xénophobie
  • xénophobiea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
German Fremdenfeindlichkeit, Xenophobie
  • Fremdenfeindlichkeita pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • Xenophobiea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • Fremdenhassa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Greek ξενοφοβία
  • ξενοφοβία (xenofovía)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Hebrew שִׂנְאַת זָרִים
  • שִׂנְאַת זָרִים (sinát zarím)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Hindi अज्ञातव्यक्तिभीति
  • अज्ञातव्यक्तिभीति (ajñātavyaktibhīti)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Hungarian xenofóbia, idegengyűlölet
  • xenofóbiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • idegengyűlöleta pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Icelandic útlendingahatur
  • útlendingahatura pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Indonesian xenofobia
  • xenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Irish seineafóibe
  • seineafóibea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Italian xenofobia, senofobia
  • xenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • senofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Japanese 外国人恐怖症, 外国人排斥
  • 外国人恐怖症 (gaikokujin kyōfushō)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 外国人排斥 (gaikokujin haiseki)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 外国人嫌悪 (gaikokujin ken'o)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 排外主義 (haigaishugi)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • 外国人嫌い (gaikokujingirai)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Korean 외국인혐오증
  • 외국인혐오증 (oeguginhyeomojeung)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Latvian ksenofobija
  • ksenofobijaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Lithuanian ksenofobija
  • ksenofobijaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Malay xenofobia
  • xenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Norwegian Bokmål xenofobi, fremmedfrykt
  • xenofobia pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • fremmedfrykta pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Persian بیگانههراسی, گزنوفوبی
  • بیگانههراسی (bigâne-harâsi)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • گزنوفوبی (gzenofobi)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Polish ksenofobia
  • ksenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Portuguese xenofobia
  • xenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Romanian xenofobie
  • xenofobiea pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Russian ксенофо́бия, неприя́знь к иностра́нцам
  • ксенофо́бия (ksenofóbija)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • неприя́знь к иностра́нцам (neprijáznʹ k inostráncam)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • не́нависть к иностра́нцам (nénavistʹ k inostráncam)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Slovak xenofóbia
  • xenofóbiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Spanish xenofobia
  • xenofobiaa pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Swedish främlingsfientlighet
  • främlingsfientligheta pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Thai ความเกลียดกลัวต่างชาติ
  • ความเกลียดกลัวต่างชาติ (kwaam-glìiat-gluua-dtàang-châat)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Turkish zenofobi, yabancı korkusu
  • zenofobia pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
  • yabancı korkusua pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Ukrainian ксенофо́бія
  • ксенофо́бія (ksenofóbija)a pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners
Vietnamese tinh bài ngoại
  • tinh bài ngoạia pathological fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with xenophobia

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

xenophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/xenophobia

MLA

“xenophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/xenophobia. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “xenophobia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/xenophobia.

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