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claustrophobia

claustrophobia

15 8.1
A strong fear of being in small closed places
  • noun
  • /ˌklɔːstrəˈfoʊbiə/
translation icon : claustrofobia
  • - Come on hurry up, I get claustrophobia in closed places!

They test us for claustrophobia and, and how did they do that?

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Examples

  • She was overcome by claustrophobia while stuck in the elevator for hours.

  • The ramp ended in another narrow but level corridor, this one with a claustrophobia-inducing low ceiling.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I can remember when claustrophobia used to be just a word.

  • Her claustrophobia put her in a completely different class of fear than the rest of us.

  • My father suffered from terrible claustrophobia.

  • Well, let's hope none of our brothers suffer from claustrophobia.

  • I don't have claustrophobia anymore.

  • Perhaps the discomfort she'd felt had been claustrophobia, pure and simple, after all.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • On his first trip into the tunnels, he learned that he suffers from claustrophobia.

    Academic text (2009)
  • I felt the same agitated claustrophobia that used to accompany my walk from apartment to rehearsal.

    Fiction book (2000)

Antonyms

304 1.0

A state of comfort and freedom from worry

190 1.0

A feeling of physical ease and being free from pain

How Afraid

to panic
272 2.3
claustrophobia
15 8.1
fear
1.0
anxiety
423 3.5
unease
19 4.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

claustrophobia = phobia (transparent) = claustro + phobia

The combining form 'claustro-' (enclosed) plus the noun 'phobia' (irrational fear) yields a straightforward meaning: fear of enclosed spaces.

Etymology

Claustrophobia comes from two old parts: claustro- meaning 'closed', like in 'closet' or 'close', and -phobia meaning 'fear'. So, claustrophobia is a strong fear of being in small, closed spaces.