The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hydrophobic \Hy`dro*phob"ic\, a. [L. hydrophobicus, Gr. ?: cf. F. hydrophobique.] Of or pertaining to hydrophobia; producing or caused by rabies; as, hydrophobic symptoms; the hydrophobic poison.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1807, from hydrophobia + -ic.
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 a. Of, or having hydrophobia (rabies). Etymology 2
a. (context physics chemistry English) Lacking an affinity for water; unable to absorb, or be wetted by water.
WordNet
adj. lacking affinity for water; tending to repel and not absorb water; tending not to dissolve in or mix with or be wetted by water [ant: hydrophilic]
abnormally afraid of water [syn: aquaphobic]
Usage examples of "hydrophobic".
Shavrov was an expert in nap-of-the-earth flying, having learned it by necessity, hunting the bandits and counterrevolutionaries that hid in the towering mountains like hydrophobic rats.
The active molecules used weak interactions—hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces and hydrophobic recognition—to assemble themselves into a three-dimensional structure, supramolecular arrays thousands of molecules long.