Fears & Phobias

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.

  • Ablutophobia – fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning
  • Achluophobia – fear of darkness
  • Acrophobia – fear of heights
  • Agoraphobia, agoraphobia without history of panic disorder – fear of places or events where escape is impossible or when help is unavailable. Fear of open spaces or of being in public places. Fear of leaving a safe place
  • Agraphobia – fear of sexual abuse
  • Agrizoophobia – fear of wild animals
  • Agyrophobia – fear of crossing the road
  • Aichmophobia – fear of sharp or pointed objects (such as a needle or knife)
  • Ailurophobia – fear of cats
  • Algophobia – fear of pain
  • Amychophobia – fear of being scratched
  • Androphobia – fear of men
  • Anthophobia – fear of flowers
  • Anthropophobia – fear of people or the company of people, a form of social phobia
  • 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
  • Astraphobia – fear of thunder and lightning
  • Atychiphobia – fear of failure
  • Autophobia – fear of being alone or isolated or of one's self
  • Automatonophobia – fear of anything that falsely represents a sentient being
  • Aviophobia, aviatophobia – fear of flying
  • Blood-injection-injury type phobia – a DSM-IV subtype of specific phobias
  • Barophobia - fear of gravity
  • Chaetophobia – fear of hair
  • Chemophobia – fear of chemicals
  • Chiroptophobia – fear of bats
  • Chromophobia – fear of bright colors
  • Chronophobia – fear of time and time moving forward
  • Cibophobia, sitophobia – aversion to food, synonymous to anorexia nervosa
  • Claustrophobia – fear of having no escape and being closed in
  • Cleithrophobia – the fear of being trapped[3]
  • Coulrophobia – fear of clowns (not restricted to evil clowns)
  • Cyberphobia – fear of or aversion to computers and of learning new technologies
  • Decidophobia – fear of making decisions
  • Dentophobia, odontophobia – fear of dentists and dental procedures
  • Disposophobia – fear of getting rid of or losing things – sometimes wrongly defined as compulsive hoarding
  • Dysmorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder – a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect
  • Emetophobia – fear of vomiting
  • Ergasiophobia – fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating
  • Ergophobia – fear of work or functioning
  • Erotophobia – fear of sexual love or sexual abuse
  • Erythrophobia – pathological blushing
  • Friggatriskaidekaphobia, paraskavedekatriaphobia, paraskevidekatriaphobia – fear of Friday the 13th
  • Frigophobia – fear of becoming too cold
  • Gamophobia – fear of marriage, commitment
  • Gelotophobia – fear of being laughed at
  • Gephyrophobia – fear of bridges
  • Genophobia, coitophobia – fear of sexual intercourse
  • Gerascophobia – fear of growing old or aging
  • Gerontophobia – fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly
  • Globophobia - fear of balloons, or balloons popping, a branch of phonophobia[4]
  • Glossophobia – fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak
  • Gymnophobia – fear of nudity
  • Gynophobia – fear of women
  • Hadephobia, stigiophobia, stygiophobia – fear of Hell[5]
  • Halitophobia – fear of bad breath
  • Haphephobia – fear of being touched
  • Heliophobia – fear of sunlight
  • Hemophobia, haemophobia – fear of blood
  • Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia – fear of the number 666
  • Hoplophobia – fear of weapons, specifically firearms (generally a political term but the clinical phobia is also documented)
  • Hylophobia – fear of trees, forests or wood
  • Hypnophobia, somniphobia – fear of sleep
  • Ichthyophobia – fear of fish, including fear of eating fish, or fear of dead fish
  • Koumpounophobia - fear of buttons.[6]
  • Lipophobia – fear or avoidance of fats in food
  • Melissophobia - fear of bees
  • Musophobia, murophobia, suriphobia - fear of mice and/or rats
  • Myrmecophobia - fear of ants
  • Mysophobia – fear of germs, contamination or dirt
  • Necrophobia – fear of death and/or the dead
  • Neophobia, cainophobia, cainotophobia, centophobia, kainolophobia, kainophobia – fear of newness, novelty
  • Nomophobia – fear of being out of mobile phone contact
  • Nosocomephobia – fear of hospitals
  • Nosophobia – fear of contracting a disease
  • Nyctophobia, achluophobia, lygophobia, scotophobia – fear of darkness
  • Obesophobia – fear of obesity
  • Oikophobia – fear of home surroundings and household appliances
  • Ombrophobia – fear of rain
  • Omphalophobia – fear of navels
  • Ophthalmophobia – fear of being stared at
  • Ornithophobia – fear of birds
  • Osmophobia, olfactophobia – fear of bad odours
  • Panphobia – fear of everything or constant fear of an unknown cause
  • Papaphobia – fear of the Pope
  • Pediophobia – fear of dolls (a branch of automatonophobia: fear of humanoid figures)
  • Phagophobia – fear of swallowing
  • Pharmacophobia – fear of medications
  • Philophobia – fear of love
  • Phobophobia – fear of having a phobia or of fear
  • Phonophobia – fear of loud sounds
  • Pogonophobia – fear of beards
  • Pyrophobia – fear of fire
  • Radiophobia – fear of radioactivity or X-rays
  • Sesquipedalophobia – fear of long words[7]
  • Scopophobia – fear of being looked at or stared at
  • Sociophobia – fear of people or social situations
  • Somniphobia – fear of sleep
  • Spectrophobia – fear of ghosts and phantoms
  • Stygiophobia – fear of Hell
  • Taphophobia, taphephobia – fear of the grave, or fear of being placed in a grave while still alive
  • Technophobia – fear of technology (see also Luddite)
  • Telephone phobia – fear or reluctance of making or taking telephone calls
  • 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 heat
  • Tokophobia – fear of childbirth or pregnancy
  • Traumatophobia – a synonym for injury phobia: fear of having an injury
  • Triskaidekaphobia, terdekaphobia – fear of the number 13
  • Trypanophobia, belonephobia, enetophobia – fear of needles or injections
  • Trypophobia – fear of holes[8]
  • Turophobia - fear of cheese[9][10][11][12]
  • Uranophobia, ouranophobia – fear of Heaven
  • Workplace phobia – fear of the workplace
  • Xanthophobia – fear of the colour yellow
  • Xenophobia – fear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens
  • Xylophobia, hylophobia, ylophobia – fear of trees, forests or wood

Animal phobias

  • Agrizoophobia – fear of wild animals
  • Ailurophobia – fear/dislike of cats
  • Apiphobia – fear/dislike of bees (also known as melissophobia, from the Greek melissa "bee")
  • Arachnophobia – fear/dislike of spiders and other arachnids
  • Bovinophobia – fear/dislike of cattle
  • Chiroptophobia – fear/dislike of bats
  • Cynophobia – fear/dislike of dogs
  • Entomophobia – fear/dislike of insects
  • Equinophobia, hippophobia – fear/dislike of horses
  • Herpetophobia – fear/dislike of reptiles and/or amphibians
  • Ichthyophobia – fear/dislike of fish
  • Mottephobia – fear/dislike of butterflies and/or moths
  • Murophobia – fear/dislike of mice and/or rats
  • Ophidiophobia – fear/dislike of snakes
  • Ornithophobia – fear/dislike of birds
  • Ranidaphobia – fear/dislike of frogs
  • Selachophobia – fear of sharks
  • Scoleciphobia – fear of worms
  • Zoophobia – fear of animals

Non-psychological conditions

  • Photophobia – hypersensitivity to light causing aversion to light
  • Phonophobia – hypersensitivity to sound causing aversion to sounds
  • Osmophobia – hypersensitivity to smells causing aversion to odors

Biology, chemistry

Biologists use a number of -phobia/-phobic terms to describe predispositions by plants and animals against certain conditions.

  • Acidophobia/Acidophobic – preference for non-acidic conditions
  • Heliophobia/Heliophobic – aversion to sunlight
  • Hydrophobia/Hydrophobic – a property of being repelled by water
  • Lipophobicity – a property of fat rejection
  • Oleophobicity – a property of oil rejection
  • Ombrophobia – avoidance of rain[13]
  • Photophobia (biology) – a negative phototaxis or phototropism response, or a tendency to stay out of the light
  • Superhydrophobe – the property given to materials that are extremely difficult to get wet
  • Thermophobia – aversion to heat

Prejudices and discrimination

Further information: List of anti-cultural, anti-national, and anti-ethnic terms

The suffix -phobia is used to coin terms that denote a particular anti-ethnic or anti-demographic sentiment, such as Americanophobia, Europhobia, Francophobia, Hispanophobia, and 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.

Other prejudices include:

  • Anglophobia – fear/dislike of England or English culture
  • Atheophobia – fear/dislike of atheists
  • Biphobia – fear/dislike of bisexuality or bisexuals
  • Christianophobia – fear/dislike of Christians
  • Ephebiphobia – fear/dislike of youth
  • Germanophobia – fear/dislike of Germans
  • Gerontophobia, gerascophobia – fear/dislike of aging or the elderly
  • Heterophobia – fear/dislike of heterosexuals
  • Hispanophobia - fear/dislike of Hispanic people, Hispanic culture and the Spanish language
  • Homophobia – fear/dislike of homosexuality, homosexuals, or gays (as opposed to lesbians)
  • Islamophobia – fear/dislike of Muslims
  • Judeophobia – fear/dislike of Jews
  • Lesbophobia – fear/dislike of lesbians
  • Negrophobia – fear/dislike of black people
  • Nipponophobia – fear/dislike of the Japanese
  • Pedophobia, pediophobia – fear/dislike of children
  • Polonophobia – fear/dislike of the Polish
  • Psychophobia – fear/dislike of mental illness or the mentally ill
  • Russophobia – fear/dislike of Russians
  • Sinophobia – fear/dislike of Chinese people
  • Transphobia – fear/dislike of transgendered people
  • Turcophobia – fear/dislike of Turks
  • Xenophobia – fear/dislike of foreigners or extraterrestrials

Jocular and fictional phobias

  • Aibohphobia – a joke term for the fear of palindromes
  • Anachrophobia – fear of temporal displacement
  • Anatidaephobia – the fictional fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you. Larson's The Far Side
  • Anoraknophobia – a portmanteau of "anorak" and "arachnophobia". Wallace and Gromit comic book
  • Arachibutyrophobia – fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Peanuts comic strip
  • Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia – fear of long words[ Brainiac Series Five
  • Keanuphobia – fear of Keanu Reeves, Dean Koontz book
  • Luposlipaphobia – fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor, also from Gary Larson's The Far Side
  • Monkeyphobia – fear of monkeys, animated series Kim Possible.
  • Robophobia – Irrational fear of robots and/or androids, or "Grimwade's Syndrome". Doctor Who
  • Semaphobia – fear of average Web developers to use Semantic Web technologies
  • Venustraphobia – fear of beautiful women, humorous article published by BBC News.

Colatedby: Gerri Barnes-Hampton1