Homophobic

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈhəʊ.məˌfəʊ.bɪk/

Definitions

1. Demonstrating prejudice or hostility towards individuals based on their sexual orientation, especially against gay and lesbian identities
2. Exhibiting aversion or discrimination against people who are attracted to the same sex
3. Having negative attitudes or intolerance toward individuals with homosexual orientation

Etymology: Homophobic is a compound built from two parts with very different histories. The first, "homo-", is a shortened form of "homosexual", a word coined in German in the 1860s and borrowed into English in the 1890s. Its ultimate source is Greek "homos", meaning "same", which is why it also shows up in words like "homogeneous", but in "homosexual" it was grafted onto Latin "sexus", "sex". The second part, "-phobic", comes from Greek "phobos", "fear" or "dread", and reached English through New Latin as a suffix used for coining terms describing irrational fears and aversions. The combination appeared much later, when "homophobia" was formed in English as a term for fear or hatred of homosexuals, and "homophobic" followed as its adjective. Both are modern coinages built from classical materials, not terms the ancient Greeks or Romans would have recognised. The sense shifted over time: the suffix originally named a clinical fear, while here it describes prejudice and hostility rather than a fear felt by the person holding it.

Synonyms: bigoted, prejudiced, intolerant, discriminatory

Antonyms: accepting, tolerant, open-minded