Homohysteria

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cultural aversion to being perceived as homosexual (thus causing men to avoid stereotypically gay behaviours). uncountable

    "Men have been taught to avoid behaviors that get them labeled as "gay," a phenomenon called homohysteria. To make friends, however, men must transcend homohysteria. For example, Billy reached out to a friend he hadn't spoken to in a while, Rory, only to realize Rory moved to Vienna while enduring a breakup. In a radical gesture typically confined to couples in romantic comedies, Billy flew to Vienna to rekindle the friendship and support Rory."

Example

More examples

"Men have been taught to avoid behaviors that get them labeled as "gay," a phenomenon called homohysteria. To make friends, however, men must transcend homohysteria. For example, Billy reached out to a friend he hadn't spoken to in a while, Rory, only to realize Rory moved to Vienna while enduring a breakup. In a radical gesture typically confined to couples in romantic comedies, Billy flew to Vienna to rekindle the friendship and support Rory."

Etymology

From homo- (“pertaining to homosexuality”) + hysteria.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.