List of phobias

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"-phobia" redirects here. For the class of psychological disorders, see Phobia.

The

antonymic to -phil-
.

For more information on the psychiatric side, including how psychiatry groups phobias such as agoraphobia, social phobia, or simple phobia, see

antonym with the suffix -phil-, e.g. Germanophobe/Germanophile
.

Many -phobia lists circulate on the Internet, with words collected from indiscriminate sources, often copying each other. Also, a number of psychiatric websites exist that at the first glance cover a huge number of phobias, but in fact use a standard text to fit any phobia and reuse it for all unusual phobias by merely changing the name. Sometimes it leads to bizarre results, such as suggestions to cure "prostitute phobia".

search engines
.

An article published in 1897 in American Journal of Psychology noted "the absurd tendency to give Greek names to objects feared (which, as Arndt says, would give us such terms as klopsophobia – fear of thieves, triakaidekaphobia – fear of the number 13....)".[3]


Psychological conditions

Specialists may prefer to avoid the suffix -phobia and use more descriptive terms such as personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and avoidant personality disorder. Terms should strictly have a Greek prefix although many are irregularly formed with Latin or even English prefixes. Many use inaccurate or imprecise prefixes, such as aerophobia (fear of air) for fear of flying.

A

Phobia Condition
Achluophobia
 fear of darkness
Acousticophobia
 fear of noise – a branch of phonophobia
Acrophobia fear of heights
Aerophobia
 fear of aircraft or flying
Agoraphobia fear of certain inescapable/unsafe situations
Agyrophobia
 fear of crossing streets
Aichmophobia fear of sharp or pointed objects such as a needle or knife
Ailurophobia fear/dislike of cats, a zoophobia
Alektorophobia fear/dislike of chickens, a zoophobia
Anatidaephobia fear/dislike of ducks, a zoophobia
Algophobia fear of pain
Alliumphobia fear of the strong-scented Allium genus: garlic, onions, chives, shallots[4][5][6][7]
Ancraophobia fear of wind or drafts
Androphobia fear of adult men[8]
Anthropophobia
 fear of human beings[8]
Apeirophobia excessive fear of infinity, eternity, and the uncountable
Aphenphosmphobia
 fear of being touched
Apiphobia
 fear of bees, a zoophobia
Apotemnophobia fear of amputees, and/or of becoming an amputee[9][10]
Aquaphobia fear of water. Distinct from hydrophobia, a scientific property that makes chemicals averse to interaction with water, as well as an archaic name for rabies.
Arachnophobia fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions, a zoophobia
Astraphobia fear of thunder and lightning
Atelophobia
 fear of imperfection
Atychiphobia
 fear of failure[11] or negative evaluations of others
Autophobia fear of isolation[12]

B

Phobia Condition
Bacteriophobia
 fear of bacteria
Basophobia, basiphobia fear associated with astasia-abasia (fear of walking/standing erect) and a fear of falling
Batrachophobia
 fear/dislike of frogs and other amphibians, a zoophobia
Belonephobia fear of needles or pins[13][14]
Bibliophobia fear of books
Blood-injection-injury type phobia a
DSM-IV
 subtype of specific phobias

C

Phobia Condition
Cacophobia
, aschimophobia 		fear of
ugliness
Carcinophobia
 fear of cancer
Catoptrophobia
 fear of mirrors
Chemophobia fear of
chemicals
Cherophobia fear of happiness
Chiroptophobia
 fear/dislike of bats, a zoophobia
Chromophobia, chromatophobia fear of colors
Chronophobia fear of time and time moving forward
Chronomentrophobia fear of clocks[15]
sitophobia
 aversion to food, synonymous with anorexia nervosa
Claustrophobia fear of having no escape and being closed in
Coimetrophobia
 fear of
cemeteries
Coprophobia fear of feces or defecation[8]
Coulrophobia
 fear of clowns[16]
Cyberphobia
 fear of computers
Cynophobia fear/dislike of dogs, a zoophobia
Cephalalgiaphobia Fear of headaches

D

Phobia Condition
Dendrophobia fear of trees[17][18]
odontophobia
 fear of
dental procedures
Dentophobia
 fear of dentists
Diagraphephobia fear of deleting files or an extreme fear of losing your computer data.[19]
Domatophobia
 fear of houses
Driving phobia, driving anxiety fear of driving
Dysmorphophobia, body dysmorphic disorder
 a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect
Dystichiphobia fear of being involved in an accident[20]

E

Phobia Condition
Ecophobia fear of cataclysmic environmental change
Eisoptrophobia
 fear of mirrors or seeing one's reflection in a mirror[21][22]
Emetophobia fear of vomiting
Enochlophobia
 fear of crowds
Entomophobia fear/dislike of insects, a zoophobia
Ephebiphobia fear of youth; inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people
Equinophobia fear of horses
Ergophobia, ergasiophobia fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating
Erotophobia fear of
sexual love or sexual abuse
Erythrophobia
, erytophobia, ereuthophobia 		fear of the color red, or fear of blushing
Eurotophobia aversion to
female genitals

F

Phobia Condition
Frigophobia fear of becoming too cold

G

Phobia Condition
Galeophobia fear of sharks
Gamophobia
 fear of marriage
Gelotophobia fear of being laughed at
Gephyrophobia fear of bridges
coitophobia
 fear of sexual intercourse
Genuphobia fear of knees or the act of kneeling
Gerascophobia fear of
aging
Gerontophobia fear of
growing old
, or a hatred or fear of the elderly
Globophobia fear of balloons
Glossophobia fear of
speaking in public
or of trying to speak
Gymnophobia fear of nudity[23]
Gynophobia fear of adult women

H

Phobia Condition
Halitophobia
 fear of bad breath
Haphephobia fear of being
touched
Heptadekaphobia, heptadecaphobia fear of the
number 17
Hedonophobia fear of obtaining pleasure
Heliophobia fear of the sun or sunlight
Helminthophobia, scoleciphobia, vermiphobia
 fear of worms,[24] a zoophobia
Hemophobia
, haemophobia 		fear of blood
Herpetophobia fear/dislike of reptiles or amphibians, a zoophobia
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
 fear of the number 666
Hippophobia
 fear/dislike of horses,[25] a zoophobia
Hodophobia fear of travel
Hydrophobia[26] fear of water, see aquaphobia
somniphobia
 fear of sleep or nightmares[27]
Hypochondria
 fear of
illness

I

Phobia Condition
Ichthyophobia
 fear of fish, including fear of eating fish, or fear of dead fish, a zoophobia
Insectophobia
 fear of insects, a zoophobia

K

Phobia Condition
Koumpounophobia fear of buttons on clothing[28]

L

Phobia Condition
Lilapsophobia fear of
hurricanes
Lepidopterophobia
 fear of butterflies and moths, a zoophobia

M

Phobia Condition
Mageiricophobia fear of cooking
Masklophobia fear of people in masks, costumes and mascots
Megalophobia fear of large objects
Melanophobia fear of the color black
apiphobia
 fear/dislike of bees, a zoophobia
Monophobia
 fear of being alone or isolated or of one's self
Musophobia
, murophobia, suriphobia 		fear/dislike of
mice or rats, a zoophobia
Mycophobia fear of
mushrooms[29]
Myrmecophobia fear of ants, a zoophobia
germophobia
 fear of
germs, contamination or dirt

N

Phobia Condition
Necrophobia fear of death or the dead
prosophobia
 fear of newness,
progress
Noctiphobia
 fear of the night
Nomophobia fear of being out of mobile phone contact
Nosocomephobia fear of hospitals
Nosophobia fear of contracting a disease
Nostophobia
, ecophobia 		fear of returning home
Numerophobia fear of numbers
Nyctophobia
, achluophobia, lygophobia, scotophobia 		fear of darkness

O

Phobia Condition
Obesophobia
 fear of
gaining weight
Oikophobia fear of
household appliances
Odontophobia dental fear
Ommetaphobia fear of eyes
Oneirophobia fear of dreams
Ophidiophobia fear/dislike of snakes, a zoophobia
Ophthalmophobia
 fear of being stared at
Ornithophobia fear/dislike of birds, a zoophobia
Osmophobia, olfactophobia fear of odors
Ostraconophobia fear/dislike of shellfish, a zoophobia

P

Phobia Condition
Panphobia fear of everything or constant generalised fear of an unknown cause
Pedophobia, paedophobia, pediaphobia fear of
children
Phagophobia fear of swallowing
Phallophobia fear of erections or penises
Pharmacophobia
 fear of medications
Phasmophobia
 fear of ghosts or phantoms
Philophobia fear of love
Phyllophobia fear of
leaves[30][31][32][33]
Phobophobia fear of fear itself or of having a phobia
Phonophobia fear of loud sounds or
voices
Pogonophobia fear of beards
Pornophobia
 dislike or fear of pornography; may be used in reference to the opposition to visual nudity
Porphyrophobia
 fear of the color purple
Pteromerhanophobia
 fear of flying
Pyrophobia fear of fire

R

Phobia Condition
Radiophobia fear of
radioactivity or X-rays
Ranidaphobia
 fear/dislike of frogs, a zoophobia

S

Phobia Condition
Scopophobia fear of being looked at or stared at
Sexophobia fear of
sexual activities
Siderodromophobia
 fear of
railroads
Social phobia
 fear of people or social situations
Somniphobia
 fear of sleep
Spectrophobia fear of mirrors
Spheksophobia
 fear of wasps, a zoophobia
Stasiphobia
 fear of standing or walking
Submechanophobia fear of partially or fully submerged man-made objects[34][35]

T

Phobia Condition
Taphophobia, taphephobia fear of
graves
, or fear of being placed in a grave while still alive
Technophobia fear of advanced technology (see also Luddite)
Telephone phobia fear or reluctance of making or taking telephone calls
Teratophobia
 fear of giving birth to a monster[36] or a disfigured foetus[37]
Tetraphobia fear of the
number 4
Thalassophobia fear of the sea, or fear of being in the ocean
Thanatophobia fear of dying
Thermophobia fear of intolerance to high temperatures
Tokophobia fear of childbirth or pregnancy
Tomophobia
 fear of invasive medical procedure[38]
Tonitrophobia
 fear of thunder
Toxiphobia fear of being
poisoned
Traumatophobia a synonym for
injury phobia: fear of having an injury
Trichophobia
 delusional fear of something in the
roots of the hair that stops it from growing,[39] or fear of hair loss
Triskaidekaphobia, terdekaphobia fear of the number 13
Trypanophobia
, belonephobia, enetophobia 		fear of needles or injections
Trypophobia fear of holes or textures with a pattern of holes[40]

V

Phobia Condition
Vehophobia fear of driving
Veloxrotaphobia fear of
roller coasters
Verminophobia
 fear of
germs

W

Phobia Condition
Workplace phobia
 fear of the workplace, a subset of ergophobia

X

Phobia Condition
Xanthophobia
 fear of the color yellow

Z

Phobia Condition
Zoophobia fear of animals

Cultural prejudices and discrimination

Phobia Condition
Acephobia fear/dislike of asexual people
Aporophobia fear/dislike of people without resources
Biphobia fear/dislike of
bisexuals
Ephebiphobia fear/dislike of youth
Gayphobia
 fear/dislike of gay men (specifically)
Gerontophobia, gerascophobia fear/dislike of
the elderly
Heterophobia
 fear/dislike of heterosexuals
Homophobia fear/dislike of
homosexuals, or gays (as opposed to lesbians
)
Lesbophobia fear/dislike of lesbians
Pedophobia
 fear/dislike of
children
Psychophobia
 fear/dislike of
mental illness or the mentally ill
Transphobia fear/dislike of
transgender people

Ethnic prejudices and discrimination

The suffix -phobia is used to coin terms that denote a particular anti-ethnic or anti-demographic sentiment, such as

Indophobia. Often a synonym with the prefix "anti-" already exists (e.g. Polonophobia vs. anti-Polonism). Anti-religious sentiments are expressed in terms such as Christianophobia and Islamophobia
.

Phobia Condition
Afrophobia fear/dislike of
Africans
Albanophobia
 fear/dislike of Albanians
Anglophobia
 fear/dislike of
English culture
Christianophobia fear/dislike of Christians
Germanophobia fear/dislike of Germans
Hinduphobia
 fear/dislike of Hindus
Hibernophobia fear/dislike of Irish people
Hispanophobia fear/dislike of
Hispanic culture and the Spanish language
Hungarophobia fear/dislike of Hungarians
Indophobia
 fear/dislike of
Indian culture
Indonesiaphobia
 fear/dislike of
Indonesian culture
Iranophobia
 fear/dislike of
Iranian culture
Islamophobia fear/dislike of Muslims
Italophobia fear/dislike of Italians
Judeophobia fear/dislike of Jews
Lusophobia fear/dislike of the
Portuguese culture and the Portuguese language
Nipponophobia fear/dislike of the Japanese
Koryophobia fear/dislike of the Koreans
Latinophobia
 fear/dislike of
Latin people
Negrophobia fear/dislike of black people
Polonophobia fear/dislike of the Polish
Russophobia
 fear/dislike of Russians
Kurdophobia fear/dislike of Kurdish people
Shiaphobia
 fear/dislike of
Shiites
Sinophobia
 fear/dislike of Chinese people
Sunniphobia
 fear/dislike of
Sunnis
Turcophobia
 fear/dislike of Turks
Ukrainophobia fear/dislike of
Ukrainians
Xenophobia fear/dislike of foreigners

Medical conditions

Phobia Condition
Osmophobia hypersensitivity to smells causing aversion to odors
Phonophobia hypersensitivity to sound causing aversion to sounds
Photophobia hypersensitivity to light causing aversion to light

Cultural phenomena

Phobia Condition
Bibliophobia fear or hatred of
cultural phenomenon[41]
Lipophobia
 avoidance of fats in food[42][43][44] (see also Lipophobicity)
Coronaphobia
 fear of
COVID-19[45]

-phobia in the natural sciences

In the natural sciences, words with the suffix -phobia/-phobic generally describe a predisposition for avoidance and/or exclusion. For antonyms, see here

Phobia Condition
Acidophobia preference for non-acidic conditions
Heliophobia aversion to sunlight
Hydrophobia the property of being repelled by water
Lipophobicity the property of fat rejection (sometimes also called lipophobia)
Oleophobicity
 the property of oil rejection
Photophobia (biology) a negative phototaxis or phototropism response, or a tendency to stay out of the light
Ultrahydrophobicity the property given to materials that are extremely difficult to get wet
Thermophobia aversion to heat

Jocular and fictional phobias

See also

References

  1. ^ a b The A–Z of Fear, a 30 October 1998 BBC News unsigned article in the "Entertainment" section
  2. ^ "Content Spammers Help You Overcome Prostitute Phobia". Webpronews.com. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  3. JSTOR 1410940
    .
  4. ^ Grant A (31 October 2021). "Common Plant Phobias – Fear of Flowers, Plants, and More". Gardening Know-How. Retrieved 17 March 2023. Dracula no doubt would have alliumphobia, the fear of garlic.
  5. ^ Possible cultural factor:
    • Humes M (24 December 2009). "The Way We Ate: Fear of Garlic". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2023. From the 1880s to the 1930s, a period of accelerated immigration and great social change, garlic was the stench of the flophouse, the dominant note in the 'rich olfactory uneasiness' that blew in from Ellis Island, and the go-to metaphor for immigrant neighborhoods. Its sulfurous tang was almost beside the point; the bulb smelled of foreign incursion.
  6. PMID 9919370
    . While humans appear to be relatively resistant to onion toxicity, there is some concern about the susceptibility of certain ethnic groups that have a genetic deficiency of G6PD. / Onion toxicity depends on factors other than variation in species susceptibility. Onions contain varying amounts of disulfide and SMCO toxins, depending on the species of onion, time of year, and growing conditions. Storing onions in large piles also provides a suitable environment for contamination of the crop with other toxins, such as mycotoxins, which could contribute to the disease process.
  7. ^ Possible experience factor:
    • Singh Z (12 October 2022). "Potential Side Effects of Chives". Chives: Nutritional Value, Health Benefits and Potential Side Effects of Chives. Singapore: HealthifyMe. Retrieved 17 March 2023. Chives can be potential gastrointestinal irritants in some people. The reactive oxidants released by chives can stimulate bowel problems such as diarrhoea and acid reflux. / Alliums can cause digestive disorders. Chives belong to the Allium genus and have an acidic pH of 5.75. It is a pH range that would make gastritis worse. Moreover, the high fructans content in chives triggers acid reflux. It would aggravate gastritis.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-534159-1
    .
  9. ^ Anonymous (12 September 2021). "Apotemnophobia (Fear of People with Amputations)". Psych Times. Covington, Louisiana. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  10. London, England
    . Associated Press Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Fear of failure (atychiphobia): Symptoms and treatment". medicalnewstoday.com. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  12. ^ Gould GM (1910). The Practitioner's Medical Dictionary (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: P. Blackiston's Son & Co. p. 100.
  13. ^ Akinola D (17 October 2020). "Belonephobia: The Fear of Pins and Needles". a Soothing Health. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  14. PMID 16894439
    .
  15. ISBN 978-1-61243-932-7. Retrieved 25 February 2023 – via Google Books
    . Chronomentrophobia is the irrational fear of clocks, which usually extends to watches. ... The mere sight or sound of a ticking clock can cause depression and anxiety. People with this fear avoid clocks at all costs....
  16. PMID 35169508
    .
  17. ^ Frost R (1923). "New Hampshire [poem]". New Hampshire. Standard Ebooks. p. 14.
    "But his heart failing him, he dropped the axe
    And ran for shelter quoting Matthew Arnold:
    '... Remember Birnam Wood! The wood's in flux!'
    He had a special terror of the flux
    That showed itself in dendrophobia."
  18. ^ Schwab G (Winter 2021). "Trees, Fungi, and Humans: A Transspecies Story". CR: The New Centennial Review. 21 (3). Michigan State University Press: 245–267. Years ago, I had a terrifying nightmare. I was back in Konstanz, my German hometown, walking in a beautiful forest adjacent to the lake. Suddenly, the giant trees surrounding me ripped their roots out of the earth and began to run after me, chasing me all the way out of the forest. I ran and ran, fearing for my life. Later I learned that my dream had its roots in an ancient phobia of trees called dendrophobia, a primordial terror linked to a sense that trees are more alive than we think. For those suffering from dendrophobia, trees have a paradoxical mobility that enables them to use their roots to grab humans or even kill them by willfully dropping their branches on them. Dendrophobia, an officially recognized mental illness that may in extreme cases lead to institutionalization, is linked to trees being recognized not simply as living beings but rather as hostile ones, intent on inflicting harm on humans or even killing them.
  19. ^ "Fear of Deletion". 13 May 2011.
  20. ^ "Dystychiphobia (Fear of Accidents): Symptoms & Treatment". Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  21. ISBN 978-1-285-62475-4
    .
  22. PMID 25667801
    .
  23. ISBN 9781135825096
    .
  24. PMID 13409951
    .
  25. S2CID 2721386
    .
  26. ^ Hydrophobia (and Superhydrophobia) can be used for chemical and scientific purposes. See Hydrophobe page.
  27. ^ Dunglison RJ (1895). A dictionary of medical science: containing a full explanation of the various subjects and terms of anatomy, physiology, ... (21st ed.). Lea Brothers & Co.
  28. ISBN 9781316605691
    . Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  29. doi:10.1080/02791072.1976.10472005
    .
  30. ^ "phobo-, phob-, -phobia, -phobias, -phobe, -phobiac, -phobist, -phobic, -phobism, -phobous". Phobo-, phob-, -phobia, -phobias, -phobe, -phobiac, -phobist, -phobic, -phobism, -phobous – Word Information. English-Word Information (wordinfo.info). Retrieved 25 February 2023. phyllophobia… An excessive fear of leaves: Each time Virginia saw the excessive amount of leafage on the ground in the fall, she had phyllophobia because it was the time of year to do the raking which took many days to complete!
  31. JSTOR 20632455
    . Retrieved 26 February 2023. However it might be useful this autumn to know that phyllophobia is a fear of leaves….
  32. ISBN 978-0-9630919-3-2
    . Retrieved 26 February 2023. phyllophobia: An excessive fear of leaves.
  33. ISSN 1060-4332
    . Phyllophobia, the fear of leaves, might not be as much in the news this autumn as coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. But anywhere that crinkly, dead leaves are, some people are scared of them.
  34. ISBN 978-0-12-420249-8
    .
  35. ^ Linder C (29 November 2019). "The 25 Coolest Shipwrecks in the World". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  36. ^ "Teratophobia definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  37. ^ "Teratophobia (Concept Id: C0522188)". MedGen. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  38. PMID 20062769
    .
  39. PMID 21180416
    .
  40. ^ Thomas G (15 October 2012). "Do holes make you queasy or even fearful". The Daily Herald. Arlington, IL. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  41. ISBN 978-0-252-07040-2
    .
  42. ^ Fischler C (1992). "From lipophilia to lipophobia. Changing attitudes and behaviors towards fat: a socio-historical approach". In Mela DJ (ed.). Dietary fats determinants of preference, selection, and consumption. London, New York: Elsevier Applied Science. pp. 103–115.
  43. ^ Askegaard S, Ostberg J (2003). "Consumers' Experience of Lipophobia: A Swedish Study". Advances in Consume Research. 30: 161.
  44. ^ Askegaard S, Jensen AF, Holt DB (1999). "Lipophobia: A transatlantic concept?". Advances in Consume Research. 26 (1): 331–336.
  45. PMID 33271693
    .
  46. ISBN 978-0-262-61112-1
    .
  47. U-T San Diego. Archived from the original
    on 4 November 2010.
  48. ^ "Fear of Peanut Butter: Why Arachibutyrophobia is a Real Phobia". United We Care. 22 May 2021.
  49. ^ Schultz C (19 May 1982). "Peanuts Comic Strip". GoComics.com.
  50. ^ "Name Discrimination Study Finds Lakisha And Jamal Still Less Likely To Get Hired Than Emily And Greg". wbur.org. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  51. ^ Farmer B (10 January 2008). "Phobia catalogue reveals bizarre list of fears". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. A catalogue of unusual phobias reveals that the fear of long words is known as hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.
  52. ^ "The Fourth Dimension". Doctor Who. Season 14. BBC One.
  53. S2CID 14815713
    .

Further reading

External links

For a list of words relating to various phobias not found in wikipedia, see the English words suffixed with -phobia category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phobias.
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