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Is there a word that describes someone who has given up on love? Or someone who doesn't or can't love anymore, or is perhaps too damaged to love again?

The closest word I found was someone who's "Apathetic" but can it be used to describe an individual that has an absence of interest in love due to previous damaged relationships he's been through. Someone who is love repressed that they no longer have the desire to love again or feel emotions. Maybe a word similar to "Anhedonia" but to describe the inability to love again.

Update: I'm sharing the meaning and explanation of this word "Philophobia", because I found it really interesting.

Philophobia, Philophobic

  • The fear of falling in love or emotional attachment. The risk is usually when a person has confronted any emotional turmoil relating to love in the past but also can be chronic phobia.

  • A fear of being in love or falling in love. Usually because of past relationships or family issues. Philophobia is closely related with a previous traumatic experience involving love and relationships. If a person had any past relationship failure such as divorce, it can strongly cause philophobia in a person.

  • Dwelling on bitter memories of past relationships that didn’t go well or that ended badly, whether romantic or familial. Or the sufferer may have an intense fear of rejection and avoids relationships as a way to avoid the embarrassment of being refused by a potential lover. Others may have gone through an acrimonious divorce and be convinced that falling in love again will only lead to another painful divorce or breakup.

  • Common symptoms occurring in philophobia are:

-Extreme anxiety and nervousness of falling in love or getting in relationship

-Suppressing inner feelings as much as possible

-Complete avoidance of places where couples are found such as parks and movie theaters

-Avoiding Marriage and others’ wedding ceremonies as well

-Isolation from external world due to the fear of falling in love

-Physical signs such as shaking, racing heart beat, trouble in breathing, sweating, numbness, nausea, and even fainting when confronted with anything associated with love and romance

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  • Hi @Islam Mohamed, welcome to English Language & Usage. Thanks for the question. Ideally, ELU recommends that questions reflect some amount of research effort. Please detail any exploration you've done regarding this term, if any, prior to posting the question here. Thanks!
    – freeling10
    Feb 23, 2017 at 18:44
  • Thank you for the warm welcome. The closest word I found was someone who's "Apathetic" but can it be used to describe an individual that has an absence of interest in love due to previous damaged relationships he's been through. Someone who is love repressed that they no longer have the desire to love again or feel emotions. Maybe a word similar to "Anhedonia" but to describe the inability to love again. Feb 23, 2017 at 19:00
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    I don't have a good answer, but I've.. seen emotionally wounded people in that condition describing themselves as "dead inside", "crippled by love", "realistic about love" or "not believing in the Disney love". All of which are very ambiguous of course. There's also the word "philophobic", but I think it's too obscure and awkward to convey the state well.
    – undercat
    Feb 24, 2017 at 6:28
  • @vovick Thank you, ""philophobic" very interesting word. I added some information about it. Feb 24, 2017 at 14:12

3 Answers 3

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In children this condition might be called "attachment disorder."

For adults, the phrase I've heard is

He had been disappointed in love

And the result is that he is

aloof

(It could be a she, also.)

  1. Emotionally reserved or indifferent; 2. Distant or uninvolved

(thefreedictionary.com)

OR

embittered

Make (someone) feel bitter or resentful.

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given up on love? Or someone who doesn't or can't love anymore, or is perhaps too damaged to love again?

"Disillusioned romantic" is overwhelmingly the most common expression I've heard to describe a person fitting these characteristics. Certainly when my mom describes me the term comes up.

...Thanks, mom.

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