Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An abnormal fear of being in narrow or enclosed spaces.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In pathology, a morbid dread of confined places, to which hysterical and neurasthenic persons are sometimes subject. See agoraphobia.
Wiktionary
WordNet 3.0
- n. a morbid fear of being closed in a confined space
Etymologies
- Latin claustrum "a shut in place," from claudere "to close" + Greek phobos "fear." First attested in the British Medical Journal. (Wiktionary)
- Latin claustrum, enclosed place; see cloister + -phobia. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Interestingly enough, I barely touched the science fiction -- I picked up a Jack Vance novel, audiobook versions of David Brin's Sundiver and Frederik Pohl's The Voices Of Heaven, and something else, but I leaned much more towards the thriller end of the spectrum -- the Deighton books, obviously, but also a couple of Adam Hall's Quiller novels (these are re-reads, mind you), Michael DiMercurio's Threat Vector and Patrick Robinson's Kilo Class (I have quite a fondness for submarine stories, which I find quite amusing given that my claustrophobia is severe enough that I can't stand being in one for even five seconds; I went aboard a WWII sub in San Francisco and clocked an end to end speed that might have been a world record -- people swore I went up the exit ladder without actually touching the rungs) and so forth.”
“I arrived on American soil yesterday afternoon, after spending longer on a plane than is recommended for anybody whose reaction to claustrophobia is to poke her neighbors in the eyes.”
“What Erdrich knows is that this history, built up over generations, yields a kind of claustrophobia that has only one cure: Leave.”
The Plague of Doves: Summary and book reviews of The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich.
“The approach reinforces the claustrophobia which is the dominant atmosphere of the novel.”
“ABLOW: This isn ` t like any kind of claustrophobia I ` ve ever treated, because apparently being confined actually makes it go away, when it should -- by all accounts, it should make it much more severe.”
“Used as he was to open cockpits he was also con - scious of a kind of claustrophobia under the hood of the streamlined monoplane, and he remembers being delighted some days after the first flight, when the hood suddenly blew off over Cobham and was never seen again.”
“It was curious, this instinctive aversion she felt to being shut in -- by trees especially; a kind of claustrophobia almost; probably due, as has been said, to the days in India when the trees took her husband off and surrounded him with dangers.”
“Both films induced a kind of claustrophobia in me, for different reasons.”
“Black metal has a way of being confining - all of those hammering, one-on-top-of-the-other riffs create a kind of claustrophobia that, while essential to the music's overall tone of panic, can be a bit exhausting over long stretches.”
“Equal parts2001: A Space Odyssey, Aliens and Solaris, Sunshine is an epic film filled with themes of isolation, claustrophobia, cabin fever, the desolation of space and terror.”
RE-VIEW: Sunshine (2007) « Giant Killer Squid - Film, Comics, News, Reviews and more
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘claustrophobia’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
-
goodkitten's list
there is going to be a lot of words...
flammivomous, pep, electrolyzation, research, constrain, why, refrigerator, invisible, windblown, curate's egg, echoism, drumble and 103 more...
-
phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
-
phobias
acrophobia, aerophobia, agoraphobia, astrophobia, androphobia, claustrophobia, aquaphobia, genophobia, homophobia, haemophobia, monophobia, pyrophobia and 20 more...
-
Phobias
claustrophobia, Ablutophobia, Acarophobia, Acerophobia, Achluophobia, Acousticophobia, Acrophobia, Aerophobia, Aeroacrophobia, Aeronausiphobia, Agateophobia, Agliophobia and 62 more...
-
-phobia
extreme or irrational fear or dislike
arachnophobia, photophobia, claustrophobia, phobophobia, ailurophobia, agrophobia, acrophobia, agoraphobia, anthropophobia, aerophobia, acarophobia, anthrophobia and 26 more...
-
anshukk's list
mephistophilies, blitzkrieg, protagonist, antagonize, perpetual, basilisk, claustrophobia, dihydrogenoxide, uxoricide
-
Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
-
sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
-
SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL C
cabal, cache, cacophony, cadaverous, cadence, cajole, callous, callow, calumny, calvary, camaraderie, canard and 199 more...
-
practice 1
daily practice
enamor, blatant, cornucopia, conspicuously, ensconce, obdurate, plausible, reprieve, gaudy, tawdry, obfuscate, bewilder and 105 more...
-
Words of the Day
glabella, chirotony, nook-shotten, crapehanger, filemot, swirlie, egosurf, lexiphanicism, Ruritanian, stichometry, chrononaut, faldstool and 2014 more...
-
Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
-
ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
-
InstantWordPower
sesquipedalian, optometrist, quadruped, biped, bimonthly, bifocal, bicuspid, bivalve, quadraphonic, quadruplet, quadruple, quadrilateral and 107 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for claustrophobia.

sonofgroucho Very seasonal (almost)! Nov 12, 2007
yarb I understand this is actually quite common in kids.
EDIT: sionnach's definition. Nov 12, 2007
rocksinmypockets This I love (with sionnach's definition). Nov 12, 2007
sionnach a morbid fear of Santa Nov 12, 2007