SOCIAL PHOBIA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does social phobia mean? 

• SOCIAL PHOBIA (noun)
  The noun SOCIAL PHOBIA has 1 sense:

1. any phobia (other than agoraphobia) associated with situations in which you are subject to criticism by others (as fear of eating in public or public speaking etc)

  Familiarity information: SOCIAL PHOBIA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOCIAL PHOBIA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any phobia (other than agoraphobia) associated with situations in which you are subject to criticism by others (as fear of eating in public or public speaking etc)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("social phobia" is a kind of...):

phobia; phobic disorder; phobic neurosis (an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "social phobia"):

androphobia (a morbid fear of men)

gynophobia (a morbid fear of women)

satanophobia (an abnormal fear of Satan)

school phobia (a child's sudden fear of attending school)

traumatophobia (a morbid fear of battle or physical injury)

xenophobia (a fear of foreigners or strangers)

 Context examples 

If you become anxious and extremely self-conscious in everyday social situations, you could have a social phobia.

(Phobias, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)