A xenophile is a person who loves foreign countries, languages or cultures. The word is built from Greek words for stranger and lover, and its opposite is xenophobe.
Wait... Is It About Fearing Foreigners?
No. A xenophile loves what is foreign, such as languages, food, music or travel. Its opposite is a xenophobe, which is a dictionary word for someone who fears foreigners. The xenophile is the friendly one.
Loves foreign films and cooking? ✅ That's xenophile.
Wary of anything from another country? ✗ That's close to xenophobe, and it's a negative word.
What Does Xenophile Mean?
A xenophile is a person who is fond of foreign countries, languages or cultures.
My aunt is a xenophile: she has learned five languages and cooks food from every continent.
🔊 Pronunciation
ZEN-oh-fyle
The stress is on the first part: ZEN. The ending is fyle, like file.
🗣️ Natural Examples
She is a xenophile who loves travelling to new countries.
"I'm a xenophile at heart," said Sam, eating spicy noodles from a street stall.
Our school's xenophile club shares recipes from around the world.
🛠️ How to Use It
Xenophile is a neutral, formal word. It suits writing about travel, culture and languages.
- It's a noun: a xenophile, a true xenophile.
- The adjective is xenophilic, which is rare.
- It's a positive word, but keep the examples about culture and food, not about nations or stereotypes.
🤝 Common Word Partners
- a true xenophile
- a xenophile at heart
- a xenophile who loves (food)
- xenophilic tastes
👨👩👧 Word Family
- xenophile (noun): a person who loves foreign things.
- xenophilic (adjective): loving foreign things.
- xenophobe (noun): a person who fears foreigners. The negative opposite.
👯 Similar and Related Words
- Anglophile: a lover of English things. See the pattern in -phile.
- bibliophile: a lover of books.
- Francophile: a lover of France and French culture.
- xenophobe: the opposite, fearful of foreigners, a negative word.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Xenophile is not xenophobe.
❌ My cousin is a xenophobe: she loves foreign films.
✅ My cousin is a xenophile: she loves foreign films.
Keep it about things, not people.
❌ All people from that country are xenophiles.
✅ She is a xenophile who loves that country's music.
💬 In a Conversation
Mia: Why do you always learn a new word from every language?
Sam: I'm a bit of a xenophile.
Mia: A xenophile? Is that a kind of food?
Sam: It's a kind of person who loves the foreign.
🕵️ Where Does It Come From?
This is the OddLingo part: xenophile is built from two Greek word-parts you can reuse.
What we can say:
- Xeno- comes from Greek xenos, "stranger, guest, foreigner".
- -phile comes from Greek philos, "loving, friendly".
- Dictionaries date xenophile to the 1920s. Sources differ on the exact year, and xenophobe is also from the 1910s or 1920s.
So a xenophile is a lover of strangers, which turns a word for "outsider" into a friendly idea.
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Learn the pattern: -phile means lover, and -phobe means fear. Xenophile = love of the foreign. Xenophobe = fear of the foreign. Anglophile loves England, bibliophile loves books.