Homophobes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who harbor a strong aversion or hostility towards those who identify as LGBTQ+
2. People exhibiting prejudice or discrimination against sexual minorities and their rights
3. Those displaying intolerance or negative attitudes towards homosexuality and same-sex relationships

Etymology: "Homophobe" is the plural of "homophobe," and the singular is a back-formation: it was built by trimming "homophobia," not by adding a suffix to a root. "Homophobia" was coined first, and the agent noun followed from it. The pieces of "homophobia" are "homo-" (from Greek "homos," meaning "same," though in this word it is shortened for "homosexual") and "-phobia" (from Greek "phobos," meaning "fear" or "dread"). Taken literally, the Greek-built form would describe a person afraid of sameness, so the modern sense rests on the clipped "homosexual" reading. The Greek-style reasoning shows up in the source's observation that a strict Greek construction would point to someone who fears their own kind, and in practice that irony has rarely been remarked on. The term therefore reads as a plain English coinage from Greek parts, with the "homo-" element taken in its modern sense.