Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request><phrase-request><idioms><expressions><idiom-request>
Title: Phrases that express "afraid of wife" in English
Question: Are there any English idioms that are used to describe a man being afraid of wife?  In Chinese there are lots of ways to express it, formal ways, condescending, or colorful. Please describe the situations to use them when giving your suggestions.

Answers:
sents: text: While it does not explicitly mean "afraid of wife", henpecked refers to a man who is controlled by his wife.
text: Much more vulgar, pussy-whipped has the same meaning.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/21298/WhatRoughBeast
score: 42
sents: text: In Chinese, 怕 is not exactly a direct translation of the English "afraid" in the main sense of the word.
text: Afraid usually means feeling fear, a distressing emotion of impending pain or danger - it's more like the Chinese 恐 in most cases.
text: For example, in Chinese you can say 怕冷, but this does not mean you are actually "afraid of the cold" in the English sense
text: - this is too strong.
text: It's more like you are "intimidated by the cold."
text: So I would say 怕 more like "intimidated by," and 怕老婆 as "intimidated by my wife.
text: " Or, as others have said, browbeaten, whipped, or henpecked.
text: However, be aware that all of these have a negative connotation in English (of the man being weak), so I feel that "intimidated by my wife," which is neutral, most closely captures 怕老婆.
text: These are subtle differences, but I feel it's these little things that make learning a language both fun and challenging.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19322/Menos
score: 13
sents: text: a man who does everything he is told to by the lady in his life [and vice versa], often for fear of reprisals, can be described as under the thumb .
text: see 'under my thumb' by the rolling stones...
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19304/Pedro del Sol
score: 12
sents: text: A wife may "wear the pants in the family," meaning she has runs the household.
text: Not so much fear as a lack of control.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19320/user19320
score: 10
sents: text: As I said in my comment, henpecked is the closest term to what you are searching.
text: Logically, all henpecked men are afraid of their wives.
text: I mean, that's why they are henpecked.
text: If you take liberty, you may toss a word - wife-o-phobia !
text: It is not standard
text: but I'm quite sure that it'll be understood since 'phobia' is not an unknown term anymore.
text: Another word that comes to my mind is 'wife-ridden' .
text: The word 'ridden' in this sense may be used to describe someone having control over someone up to an extent that it develops 'fear' in the subject being controlled.
text: As a doctor, I know another word.
text: From New Latin, from Greek gametē (means wife) the word comes ' gametophobia '.
text: Ideally it should be 'fear of wife' but sources say that it's gamete+gamos (marriage)
text: SO
text: it's actually 'fear of marriage'.
text: So, if we describe a bachelor 'gametophobic', he's afraid of getting married but if we refer a married man a gametophobic, he's afraid of his wife?
text: I'm not sure!
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/3187/Maulik V
score: 6
sents: text: Another word I can think of is obedient husband .
text: An obedient husband will say that he is not "afraid of his wife" per se, but if you observe his behavior closely, whatever his wife wishes, he will comply, for her wish is his command.
text: ;-) Obedient husband can sound even poetic!
text: I am, with the utmost affection, your obedient husband, and most humble servant.
text: -- Elegant Epistels: Being a Copious Collection of Familiar and Amusing Letters
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/3281/Damkerng T.
score: 6
sents: text: One of my favorites is, "If mama aint happy, aint nobody happy."
text: Meaning, "If the mother of my children is unhappy, everyone in the family is unhappy."
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/11495/Ast Pace
score: 5
sents: text: Another one that comes to mind is whipped .
text: If you say a guy's whipped
text: you mean he's been beaten into submission by his partner and is unwilling to do anything that might anger her.
text: For example, "he's too whipped to go to the bar tonight."
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/19306/pokemanz43
score: 5
sents: text: For a clinical-sounding term, you could describe the man as uxoriphobic , which is not listed directly in any dictionary that I could find, but comes from the Latin root uxor , meaning "wife", and the suffix -phobia , meaning "fear of".
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/87/Hellion
score: 4

Summary of the answers:
Whipped, henpecked and wife-ridden have been suggested, along with obedient husband. A man who does everything he is told to by the lady in his life can be described as  "under the thumb".  A wife may be said to "wear the pants in the family," to mean she runs the household. "Uxoriphobic" could be used to describe a man who is afraid of his wife.
Whipped, uxoriphobic, henpecked and under the thumb can convey this idea.