Meaning & use
fat phobia
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
Dislike, prejudice or unfair treatment directed at people because they have larger bodies.
Grammar: Not used with an or a plural: they challenge fat phobia in schools.
Patterns
- fat phobia in something
- fat phobia towards someone
Many activists argue that fat phobia in healthcare leads to poorer treatment.
The film was criticized for reinforcing fat phobia through its jokes.
Fat phobia can affect hiring decisions even when no one admits it.
noununcountable
An intense personal fear or anxiety about becoming fat or gaining weight.
Grammar: Describes a personal fear, often linked to body image; no plural.
Patterns
- a fear of something
Her fat phobia made every meal stressful.
Therapists treat fat phobia when it begins to damage a person's health.
Social media can feed fat phobia in teenagers.
Common combinations
- challenge fat phobia
- The campaign aims to challenge fat phobia in advertising.
- internalized fat phobia
- She worked to unlearn her internalized fat phobia.
- combat fat phobia
- Schools are trying to combat fat phobia in the classroom.
- experience fat phobia
- Many patients say they experience fat phobia at the clinic.
- fat phobia in the media
- Researchers studied fat phobia in the media.
Synonyms and how they differ
- weight stigma
- Weight stigma is the more neutral, academic term and is common in research, while fat phobia is more activist in tone.
- weight bias
- Weight bias refers to negative attitudes only, while fat phobia can also include fear and discrimination.
- fatshaming
- Fatshaming means actively mocking or criticizing someone, whereas fat phobia is the underlying attitude.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: fat phobia or obesophobia?
fat phobia vs obesophobia
Obesophobia is a clinical term for the fear of gaining weight, while fat phobia usually refers to social prejudice.
Practice
Activists say that ___ in medicine can cause doctors to blame every health problem on a patient's weight.
Choose one answer.
Fat phobia is prejudice against people with larger bodies. The other phobias exist but concern enclosed spaces, water and foreigners.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fat phobia”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.