ac·ro·pho·bi·a

(ăk′rə-fō′bē-ə)

An abnormal fear of high places.

ac′ro·phobe′ n.

ac′ro·pho′bic (-fō′bĭk) adj. & n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

acrophobic - suffering from acrophobia; abnormally afraid of high places

afraid - filled with fear or apprehension; "afraid even to turn his head"; "suddenly looked afraid"; "afraid for his life"; "afraid of snakes"; "afraid to ask questions"

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

At the Lake Placid Olympic Center, site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games, we toured the year-round training facility, shuddered at the acrophobic view from the top of the ski jump and mugged for the camera on the medal stand.

An Adirondack chair proved a perfect perch for viewing fall colors reflected in

Before you get acrophobic, just imagine the spectacular view at the top.

Wanderlust: Rolling in the sky

London: If you are acrophobic or are scared of heights, then taking automated virtual reality (VR) based psychological therapy may help reduce the phobia, say researchers.

VR therapy may reduce fear of heights: Study

It was with this presumed advantage that we decided, one Sunday, to visit the Masungi Georeserve in Baras, Rizal, for a four-hour hike that included steep ups and downs, rope courses and hanging bridges that challenged the acrophobic.

If the 'titas' can take on Masungi, so can you

Eight acrophobic subjects were divided into two groups: placebo and GABA-treated individuals.

GABA in the treatment of anxiety

While Gallic buddy Jean-Louis takes the north tower, Zemeckis follows Philippe and his acrophobic friend Jeff (Cesar Domboy) as they infiltrate the south one.

The Walk

Fixing his mantis eye on her, she'd felt it, the sticky label: acrophobic. When she added that she preferred earth to air and was joining a gym, he said he had a home gym and exercised one hour before sunrise while listening to the Great Courses.

Mrs. Wisdom

It would seem that the greatest danger in this pastime would be a fall from a high place, so imagine the surprise of an acrophobic building inspector when he happens upon the skeleton of a free-climber in a Gothic turret high atop a Victorian-era building, in Val McDermid's aptly titled The Skeleton Road (Atlantic Monthly, $25, 384 pages, ISBN 9780802123091).

Incriminating pictures are worth a thousand words