Xenophobia

Meaning

Xenophobia means fear, dislike, or hostility toward people who are perceived as foreign, unfamiliar, or different from one's own cultural or national group.

Pronunciation

/ˌzen.əˈfəʊ.bi.ə/

Word Forms

• Noun: xenophobia
• Adjective: xenophobic
• Noun: xenophobe
• Adverb: xenophobically

Synonyms

Antonyms

Common Collocations

• rising xenophobia — increasing hostility toward foreigners or outsiders.
• anti-immigrant xenophobia — hostility toward immigrants because they are perceived as foreign.
• xenophobia and racism — prejudice against foreigners or people perceived as belonging to another group, often discussed alongside racism.
• fight xenophobia — actively oppose hostility or prejudice toward foreigners.
• fear of xenophobia — concern about hostile treatment based on foreignness or perceived difference.
• acts of xenophobia — specific incidents involving hostility or discrimination against foreigners or outsiders.

Example Sentences

• The organization works to combat xenophobia and discrimination against immigrants.
• Economic uncertainty can sometimes intensify xenophobia toward foreign workers.
• She spoke openly about the xenophobia she had experienced after moving abroad.
• The novel explores how fear can develop into xenophobia when people distrust outsiders.
• Education and meaningful contact between communities can help challenge xenophobia.

Literary Example

Example:

“Xenophobia looks like becoming the mass ideology of the 20th-century fin-de-siecle.”

— Eric Hobsbawm, Divided Europeans: Understanding Ethnicities in Conflict (1999)

Here, xenophobia refers to hostility or fear directed toward people perceived as foreign or belonging to another group. Hobsbawm uses the word to describe a broader social and political phenomenon rather than an isolated personal prejudice.

Story Workshop

This word has not yet appeared in a Story Workshop story. When it does, this section will link directly to the story and highlight the paragraph where the word appears, allowing you to see it used naturally in context.

Coming Soon...

Related Words

Continue exploring words that begin with the letter X.

Navigate the Archive