phobia

Etymology

c 1790, from words ending in -phobia, from Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear”). Compare ism, from -ism, itis, from -itis, and ana, from -ana.

noun

1. An irrational, abnormal, or obsessive fear (of something).
   I know someone with a strange phobia of ladders.
2. An aversion or dislike (of something).
   Some patients have the phobia of light, and others have the phobia of darkness. Another common aversion is that of high places. The phobiac of this type can not sit in the gallery […] 1914, McClure's Magazine, page 140
   For as interviewer Than Win Htut expressed it, “misunderstandings about, and phobia of, gay life and homosexuality are very common in Burma.” Than Win Htut went on to observe that in Burma[…] 2009 06, Michael G. Peletz, Gender Pluralism: Southeast Asia Since Early Modern Times, Routledge, page 162