Standard Lemma guide

hydrophobic

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /haɪdɹəˈfəʊbɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /haɪdɹəˈfoʊbɪk/

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, or having, hydrophobia (rabies); rabid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Lacking an affinity for water; unable to absorb or to be wetted by water.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: water-fearing

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

lacking affinity for water; tending to repel and not absorb water; tending not to dissolve in or mix with or be wetted by water

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: hydrophilic

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

abnormally afraid of water

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aquaphobic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English hydrophobia Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English hydrophobic From hydrophobia + -ic.

Etymology tree English hydrophobe Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English hydrophobic From hydrophobe + -ic.

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: хидрофо́бен (hidrofóben) — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Catalan: hidròfob — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Finnish: raivotautinen — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • French: hydrophobe — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Hungarian: hidrofób — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Irish: hidreafóbach — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Italian: idrofobo — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Northern Kurdish: dijav — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Northern Kurdish: dijavî — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Polish: hydrofobiczny — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Russian: гидрофо́бный (gidrofóbnyj) — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Spanish: hidrófobo — of, or having, hydrophobia
  • Bulgarian: хидрофо́бен (hidrofóben) — lacking an affinity for water
  • Catalan: hidròfob — lacking an affinity for water
  • Chinese Mandarin: 疏水 (shūshuǐ) — lacking an affinity for water
  • Czech: hydrofobní — lacking an affinity for water
  • Danish: hydrofob — lacking an affinity for water
  • Danish: vandskyende — lacking an affinity for water
  • Finnish: vesipakoinen — lacking an affinity for water
  • Finnish: hydrofobinen — lacking an affinity for water
  • French: hydrophobe — lacking an affinity for water
  • German: hydrophob — lacking an affinity for water
  • Hungarian: hidrofób — lacking an affinity for water
  • Italian: idrofobo — lacking an affinity for water
  • Northern Kurdish: dijav — lacking an affinity for water
  • Polish: hydrofobowy — lacking an affinity for water
  • Russian: гидрофобный (gidrofobnyj) — lacking an affinity for water
  • Spanish: hidrófobo — lacking an affinity for water
  • Tagalog: tubigsikwayin — lacking an affinity for water