A hostile attitude or irrational fear toward homosexual people, which may be expressed as aversion, discrimination, or hatred.
example
Homophobie ist eine Form der Diskriminierung, die in einer modernen Gesellschaft keinen Platz hat.
Homophobia is a form of discrimination that has no place in a modern society.
Usage tips
Word structure
The word is composed of the Greek elements 'homo-' (same) and '-phobie' (fear, aversion). If you know the ending '-phobie' (-phobia), you can also more easily understand other words like 'Klaustrophobie' (claustrophobia, fear of confined spaces).
EXAMPLE
Arachnophobie ist die Angst vor Spinnen.
Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders.
Word family
The related adjective is 'homophob' (homophobic). It describes people, statements, or actions that are characterized by homophobia.
EXAMPLE
Solche homophoben Witze sind absolut inakzeptabel.
Such homophobic jokes are absolutely unacceptable.
Typical collocations
'Homophobie' (homophobia) is often used with verbs related to fighting or rejection. Typical phrases are 'Homophobie bekämpfen' (to fight homophobia), 'gegen Homophobie vorgehen' (to take action against homophobia), or 'Homophobie verurteilen' (to condemn homophobia).
EXAMPLE
Die Schule hat ein Projekt gestartet, um Homophobie aktiv zu bekämpfen.
The school launched a project to actively fight homophobia.