There really is a word for everything, including almost every fear you can imagine. Spiders, heights and dogs are fairly understandable, but apparently humans can also fear buttons, balloons, knees, beards and even long words. Actually, I really dislike buttons myself so I get that one.
The ending “phobia” comes from the Greek word phobos, meaning fear or horror. Add it to the right root word and you have a name for something that sends a shiver down a person’s spine.
Before we get into this strange list of words, it is important to mention that not every word ending in “phobia” describes a formally recognised mental health condition. A specific phobia is a type of anxiety disorder involving a persistent and intense fear of a particular object or situation. It can cause severe anxiety, avoidance, panic attacks and physical symptoms such as trembling, dizziness, nausea, chest tightness or a racing heartbeat. An everyday dislike is not automatically a phobia. The NHS has more information about phobias and their symptoms here.
Some of the new words you will find on internet word lists are informal, humorous or rarely used. Others describe very real fears that can seriously affect someone’s life. With that in mind, let’s enter the strange and fascinating world of phobia words.
1. Aibohphobia
Aibohphobia is said to mean the fear of palindromes, which are words or phrases that read the same forwards and backwards.
Take another look at the word. Yes, aibohphobia is itself a palindrome. This is generally treated as a clever joke rather than the name of a recognised condition, but whoever invented it clearly understood the assignment.
2. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
This absurdly long word supposedly means the fear of long words.
It is almost certainly a humorous construction rather than a genuine medical term. However, that has not stopped it from appearing on countless vocabulary lists. Making somebody pronounce a 36-letter word to explain why they fear long words feels unnecessarily cruel.
The shorter term sesquipedalophobia is also used, although even that is not particularly considerate.
3. Arachnophobia
Arachnophobia is the intense fear of spiders.
This is one of the best-known phobias, helped considerably by the 1990 movie Arachnophobia. A person with this fear may struggle to enter a room after seeing a spider or feel anxious about visiting places where one might appear.
For some people, the only thing worse than seeing a spider is watching it disappear before they can remove it.
4. Acrophobia
Acrophobia means the fear of heights.
This is more intense than simply feeling cautious near the edge of a cliff. Someone with acrophobia may experience severe anxiety while climbing stairs, standing on a balcony or even looking out of an upstairs window.
5. Cynophobia
Cynophobia is the fear of dogs.
The root word comes from the Greek kyon, meaning dog. Cynophobia may develop after a frightening encounter, although a previous bad experience is not always involved. Even a calm dog on a lead can cause intense fear for someone affected by it.
6. Trypanophobia
Trypanophobia is the fear of needles or injections.
This fear can make vaccinations, blood tests and other medical procedures extremely difficult. It is not merely disliking the brief sting of an injection. Some people experience overwhelming anxiety or may faint when faced with a needle.
7. Trypophobia
Trypophobia describes an aversion to tightly packed holes or repeating clusters.
Lotus seed pods, honeycomb and certain close-up photographs can trigger discomfort, disgust or a crawling sensation. Trypophobia is widely discussed online, although it is not generally treated as a separate formal diagnosis.
You probably knew whether you had it before you finished reading the words “lotus seed pod.”
8. Coulrophobia
Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.
To be fair, popular culture has worked extremely hard to make this one seem reasonable. Between It, creepy carnival scenes and horror movies featuring abandoned funfairs, clowns have suffered one of the greatest reputation collapses in entertainment history.
9. Pediophobia
Pediophobia means the fear of dolls.
Old porcelain dolls with staring glass eyes are common triggers, but the fear can include mannequins, wax figures or other objects designed to resemble human beings. The fact that horror directors keep making dolls turn their heads when nobody is looking probably does not help.
10. Automatonophobia
Automatonophobia is the fear of human-like figures, particularly those that appear alive but are not.
This can include waxworks, animatronic characters, realistic robots, ventriloquist dummies and mannequins. It is essentially the fear that the motionless figure in the corner might suddenly stop being motionless.
11. Globophobia
Globophobia is the fear of balloons.
The fear is often connected to the possibility of a balloon bursting, rather than the balloon simply existing. Children’s parties, decorations and surprise celebrations can become incredibly stressful for someone with this phobia.
Imagine being handed a balloon animal and receiving both a dog and a ticking time bomb.
12. Koumpounophobia
Koumpounophobia is the fear of buttons.
It may involve a particular aversion to touching buttons, wearing buttoned clothing or seeing loose buttons. Steve Jobs reportedly disliked buttons, although it would be reckless to diagnose the co-founder of Apple based solely on his fondness for black turtlenecks.
13. Pogonophobia
Pogonophobia means the fear of beards.
The term has also been used more broadly to describe a strong dislike or distrust of bearded people. That could make Christmas, hipster coffee shops and certain periods of male fashion history quite challenging.
14. Genuphobia
Genuphobia is the fear of knees.
A person may be frightened by seeing knees, having their own knees exposed or watching someone kneel. Most of the rest of the world probably gives knees very little thought, but phobias are not governed by popular opinion.
15. Omphalophobia
Omphalophobia means the fear of belly buttons.
Some people cannot tolerate their belly button being touched, while others become uncomfortable when looking at anyone else’s. Swimming pools and cropped tops suddenly become much more complicated.
16. Turophobia
Turophobia is the fear of cheese.
It may involve a particular kind of cheese, its smell or cheese in general. A traumatic food experience could contribute to the fear, although not everyone can identify a clear cause.
The French would presumably consider this a national emergency.
17. Arachibutyrophobia
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
This is one of those words that sounds as though it was invented specifically for a trivia night. The sensation is certainly inconvenient, but the term is more commonly found in novelty word lists than medical literature.
18. Xanthophobia
Xanthophobia is the fear of the colour yellow.
The fear may extend to yellow objects, including flowers, clothing, vehicles or even the written word “yellow.” Bananas, sunshine and cheerful kitchen decor are all potential enemies.
19. Octophobia
Octophobia is the fear of the number eight.
Some people may feel anxious when seeing the numeral, encountering groups of eight or reaching an eighth floor. Turn the number on its side and it becomes the infinity symbol, giving the person something else to worry about indefinitely.
20. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
This intimidating 29-letter word means the fear of the number 666.
The term is built from Greek number words and refers to the number’s ominous religious and cultural associations. Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan are often reported to have changed the address of their California home from 666 to 668.
It may not be the fear of long words, but spelling this one could cause a separate anxiety disorder.
21. Triskaidekaphobia
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.
This is one of the few unusual phobia words whose influence can be seen in everyday life. Some hotels omit room 13, while certain buildings skip directly from the twelfth to the fourteenth floor.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the more specific fear of Friday the 13th, for anyone who felt the original word was not difficult enough.
Related: Angel Number 0000 Meaning: A Full-Circle Wake-Up Call from the Universe
22. Nomophobia
Nomophobia is the fear or anxiety associated with being without a mobile phone.
Its name comes from “no mobile phone phobia,” so it does not have the ancient Greek root word you might expect. It can describe the distress someone feels when their battery dies, their signal disappears or they cannot find their device.
If you just checked your pocket after reading that, you may understand the concept.
23. Technophobia
Technophobia is the fear or strong aversion to technology.
It may involve computers, artificial intelligence, smartphones or unfamiliar digital systems. Considering how quickly technology changes, people with technophobia barely have time to become comfortable with one device before the rest of the world moves on to another.
Related: 22 Best AI Movies About Artificial Intelligence
24. Ablutophobia
Ablutophobia is the fear of bathing, washing or cleaning.
It is reported more often in children but can also affect adults. As with many phobias, it goes beyond simply not wanting to get into the shower. The person may experience significant anxiety when thinking about washing.
25. Somniphobia
Somniphobia is the fear of going to sleep.
Someone may worry that they will have nightmares, lose control or fail to wake up. Because avoiding sleep causes exhaustion, this fear can create an especially difficult cycle.
It may sometimes be connected with traumatic experiences or other mental health difficulties, but it should not automatically be confused with post-traumatic stress disorder.
26. Nyctophobia
Nyctophobia is the fear of darkness or night.
Fear of the dark is common in young children, but nyctophobia can continue into adulthood. The lack of visibility may make someone feel unsafe even when they logically know there is no immediate danger.
Apparently, knowing there is nothing under the bed and being willing to leave one foot outside the blanket are completely different achievements.
Related: 119 Enchanting Instagram Captions for All Your Night Pics
27. Thanatophobia
Thanatophobia is an intense fear of death or dying.
Occasional thoughts or worries about mortality are part of being human. Thanatophobia is more persistent and may interfere with everyday life, relationships and important decisions.
This is one of the heavier entries on our list, because the fear can be deeply distressing rather than simply quirky or unusual.
Related: Printable End of Life Planner
28. Philophobia
Philophobia is the fear of falling in love or forming a deep emotional attachment.
It may cause someone to avoid relationships or withdraw when a connection becomes serious. Although the term is popular online, philophobia is not usually listed as a separate clinical diagnosis.
Bad dating experiences are common. Feeling overwhelming fear whenever emotional closeness develops is something different.
29. Phobophobia
Phobophobia is the fear of phobias or of becoming afraid.
The person may become highly anxious about experiencing panic, losing control or developing a new fear. This can produce a frustrating circle in which being frightened of fear makes fear more likely.
It is the anxiety equivalent of your computer opening an error message to report a problem with its error messages.
30. Panphobia
Panphobia, sometimes called pantophobia, describes a vague fear of everything or a constant sense that something terrible is about to happen.
It is not generally recognised as one specific diagnosis. Similar feelings may occur with several mental health conditions, so anyone experiencing ongoing or overwhelming fear should speak to an appropriate health professional rather than attempting to diagnose themselves from an online list.
It is also a fitting place to end, because once you fear everything, there are not many categories left to add.
Are All Phobia Words Medical Terms?
No. This is where vocabulary gets slightly messy.
A genuine specific phobia involves more than an ordinary dislike. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, it is marked by a persistent fear of a particular object, situation or activity. It may lead to avoidance and cause significant disruption or distress.
People experiencing phobias can have panic attacks and physical symptoms such as sweating, shaking, nausea, dizziness, breathlessness and heart palpitations. However, having one frightening experience or feeling uncomfortable around something does not necessarily mean that someone has a diagnosable condition.
Many entertaining “phobia” names circulating online are informal constructions. Some were created as jokes, while others are used in popular culture but rarely appear in clinical material. Terms such as aibohphobia and hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia belong firmly on the fun side of the list.
Phobias are also different from broader anxiety disorders, social anxiety and conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, even though symptoms can sometimes overlap. A qualified professional is the right person to identify what someone is experiencing.
Can You Use Phobia Words in Word Games?
Some phobia words appear in standard dictionaries, while the more obscure ones may not be accepted in every word game. If you are building word lists for Scrabble, crosswords or spelling challenges, check the relevant Scrabble dictionary before confidently placing a 20-letter word across the board.
You are unlikely to fit hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia onto a standard board anyway. Even finding a useful seven-letter word can be difficult, so an exceptionally long letter word is probably staying in your rack forever.
Scrabble is a trademark of its respective owner, while Words With Friends is a trademark of Zynga. That sentence may sound oddly formal in an article about the fear of knees, but word-game lawyers presumably fear brand confusion.
Which of These Phobia Words Surprised You Most?
Whether you came here searching for the fear of heights, the fear of spiders, the fear of dogs or the wonderfully ridiculous fear of palindromes, this list proves that language can give a name to almost anything.
Some of these words describe serious fears that affect people’s daily lives. Others seem to exist mainly because someone realised that combining a Greek word with “phobia” could create an impressive piece of trivia.
Either way, you now have 30 new words to bring up the next time a conversation becomes too normal. Which one sounds the most completely made up to you?
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