What does agoraphobia mean?
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder marked by an intense fear of situations or places from which escape might be difficult, embarrassing, or impossible — particularly if a panic attack were to occur. Commonly feared settings include open spaces, crowds, public transport, shops, and simply being outside the home alone; in severe cases, sufferers may become housebound. Although popularly understood as a 'fear of open spaces,' clinicians emphasize that the underlying dread is of losing control or being unable to reach safety. The word derives from the Greek agora, meaning a public gathering place or marketplace, combined with phobos, meaning fear. Agoraphobia is a formal diagnostic category in modern psychiatry and is closely associated with panic disorder, yet it is also used more loosely in everyday language to describe extreme reluctance to venture into public life. Its derivatives include the adjective agoraphobic, applied both to people with the condition and, figuratively, to anything evoking that sense of exposure.
nounAn anxiety disorder characterized by an intense fear of situations or places from which escape might be difficult or help unavailable, often resulting in avoidance of open spaces, crowds, or leaving home.
- A recognized anxiety disorder involving intense fear of situations from which escape might be difficult or embarrassing, or in which help may not be available during a panic attack.
- More broadly, an intense fear or dread of open spaces, crowds, or public places.
"Her agoraphobia became so severe that she could no longer bring herself to step outside her front door."
"After the accident, he developed agoraphobia and found even a trip to the corner shop overwhelming."
"The novel's protagonist battles agoraphobia, rarely venturing beyond the safety of her apartment."
Rarely pluralized; when referring to multiple cases or instances, writers usually keep the singular or rephrase (e.g., 'cases of agoraphobia').
"The clinic treated several patients whose agoraphobias varied widely in severity."
Agoraphobia doesn't just mean fearing open spaces — for many sufferers it means fearing any situation where a panic attack could strike without an easy exit, which is why some people become unable to leave their own homes.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of agoraphobia
Agoraphobia was coined in the late nineteenth century from two Greek roots: agora, the ancient Greek term for a marketplace or public assembly space, and phobos, meaning fear. The German psychiatrist Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal is generally credited with first describing the condition under this name in the early 1870s, alongside related terms such as claustrophobia coined around the same period. The word entered English medical literature shortly afterward and has since become a standard clinical and everyday term. It shares its Greek roots with other phobia terms such as xenophobia and hydrophobia.
Related word forms
How agoraphobia is actually used
Agoraphobia is a formal clinical term used in psychiatric diagnosis (e.g., DSM-5), but it also appears in everyday speech to describe a strong reluctance to leave home or enter crowded places. It is frequently misunderstood as simply 'fear of open spaces'; clinically, the core feature is fear of situations where escape or help would be difficult.
Easily confused with agoraphobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of enclosed or confined spaces, whereas agoraphobia is the fear of open or public spaces where escape may be difficult.
Social anxiety centers on fear of judgment or embarrassment in social interactions, while agoraphobia centers on fear of being in places where escape or help might be unavailable.