List of phobias

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This article is about the suffix -phobia. For the class of psychological disorders, see Phobia.

The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (of Greek origin: φόβος/φοβία ) occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, disabling fear as a mental disorder, a phobia (e.g., agoraphobia), in biology to describe organisms that dislike certain conditions (e.g., acidophobia), and in medicine to describe hypersensitivity to a stimulus, usually sensory (e.g., photophobia). In common usage they also form words that describe dislike or hatred of a particular thing or subject. The suffix is antonymic to -phil-.

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

The following lists include words ending in -phobia, and include fears that have acquired names.

In some cases a word ending in -phobia may have an antonym with the suffix -phil-, e.g., Germanophobe / Germanophile.

See also the category:Phobias.

Phobia lists

A large number of-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.

Psychological conditions

• Acarophobia - fear of mites and by generalization to other small insects.
• Ablutophobia – fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning.
• Acrophobia, Altophobia – fear of heights.
• Agoraphobia, Agoraphobia Without History of Panic Disorder – fear of open spaces
• Agraphobia – fear of sexual abuse.
• Aichmophobia – fear of sharp or pointed objects (as a needle, knife or a pointing finger).
• Algophobia – fear of pain.
• Agyrophobia – fear of crossing roads.
• Amathophobia - Fear of dust.
• Amaxophobia - fear of vehicles, of riding in them.
• Androphobia – fear of men.
• Anemophobia - fear of wind, drafts, moving air
• Anginophobia - fear of suffocation, of being suffocated, or more specifically an attack of angina.
• Anthropophobia – fear of people or being in a company, a form of social phobia.
• Anthophobia – fear of flowers.
• Aquaphobia – fear of water and by generalization swimming.
• Aphephobia - fear of being touched by another person.
• Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia, Keraunophobia – fear of thunder, lightning and storms; especially common in young children.
• Autophobia - fear of being alone with oneself.
• Aviophobia, Aviatophobia – fear of flying.
• Bacillophobia, Bacteriophobia, Microbiophobia – fear of microbes and bacteria.
• Ballistophobia - a fear of missile, or of thrwn objects.
• Basiphobia - a fear of walking, or even standing erect and walking.
• Bathophobia - a fear of depth, and sometimes used in the context of a fear of looking down from a height.
• Belonephobia - a fear of sharp pointed objects.
• Bibliophobia - a fear of books.
• Blood-injection-injury type phobia – a DSM-IV subtype of specific phobias.
• Brontophobia - fear of thunder. Not used for the common mild form found in children.
• Cainotophobia or cenotophobia - a fear of novelty, of new situations, ideas ot things.
• Cardiophobia - a fear of heart problems.
• Catoptrophobia - fear of mirrors or of one's own reflection, or of breaking mirrors.
• Chorophobia - fear of fun, gaity or dancing.
• Cibophobia, Sitophobia – aversion to food, synonymous to Anorexia nervosa.
• Claustrophobia – fear of confined spaces.
• Computerphobia or cyberphobia - fear of computers, of using them.
• Coprophobia - a fear of feces and by generalization dirt, contamination, and filth
• Coulrophobia – fear of clowns (not restricted to evil clowns).
• Cypridophobia - a fear of sexually transmitted disease, or by extension of sexual behavior
• Decidophobia – fear of making decisions.
• Demophobia - fear of crowds.
• Dental phobia, Dentophobia, Odontophobia – fear of dentists and dental procedures
• Dysmorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder – a fear of imaginary body defect.
• Emetophobia – fear of vomiting.
• Enissophobia - a fear of criticism.
• Epistemophobia - a fear of knowledge.
• Ergasiophobia, or Ergophobia – fear of work or by extension taking on responsibility, as in a surgeon's fear of operating.
• Eremophobia - a fear of solitude of being alone. See autophobia
• Ergophobia – fear of work or functioning.
• Erotophobia – fear of sexual love or sexual questions.
• Erythrophobia or ereuthrophobia – a fear of red objects and by generalization blushing.
• Febriphobia - a fear of illness due to rising body temperature, or fever.
• Gamophobia - a fear of marriage.
• Gelotophobia - fear of being laughed at.
• Gephyrophobia – fear of bridges.
• Genophobia, Coitophobia – fear of sexual intercourse.
• Gerascophobia – fear of growing old or ageing.
• Gerontophobia – fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly.
• Geumaphobia - a fear of tastes
• Glossophobia – fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.
• Gymnophobia – fear of nudity.
• Gynophobia – fear of women.
• Haptephobia – fear of being touched.
• Heliophobia – fear of sunlight.
• Hemophobia, haemophobia, hematophobia or haematophobia – fear of blood or sight of blood.
• Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia – fear of the number 666.
• Haphephobia - fear of being touched by another person.
• Heliophobia - fear of the sun or of sunlight.
• Heirophobia - fear of religion, of religious rites or objects.
• Homophobia - fear of men, or more specifically homosexuals
• Hoplophobia – fear of weapons, specifically firearms (Generally a political term but the clinical phobia is also documented).
• Hyalophobia - fear of glass.
• Hydrophobia - fear of water.
• Hydrophobiaphobia - fear of rabies
• Hypertrichophobia - fear of growing body hair, particularly excessive amounts.
• Hypnophobia - fear of falling asleep.
• Iophobia - fear of being poisoned, fear of rusty objects.
• Kainophobia - fear of new experiences, situations etc. See Cenotophobia.
• Kenophobia - fear of empty spaces
• Keraunophobia - fear of lightening and by association thunder.
• Kopophobia - fear of becoming fatigued or exhausted
• Lalophobia - In the general sense a fear of speaking, more specifically a fear of stammering or making errors while speaking.
• Levophobia - a fear of things on the left hand side of the body.
• Ligyrophobia – fear of loud noises.
• Lipophobia – fear/avoidance of fats in food.
• Macrophobia - a fear of large objects.
• Microphobia - a fear of small objects.
• Medication phobia - fear of medications.
• Megalophobia - fear of large/oversized objects.
• Monophobia - fear of being alone.
• Mysophobia – fear of germs, contamination or dirt.
• Necrophobia – fear of death, the dead, particularly human corpses.
• Neophobia, Cainophobia, Cainotophobia, Cenophobia, Centophobia, Kainolophobia, Kainophobia – fear of newness, novelty. see dietary neophobia
• Nomophobia – fear of being out of mobile phone contact.
• Nosophobia – fear of illness or of contracting a particular disease.
• Nosocomephobia - fear of hospitals.
• Nyctophobia, Achluophobia, Lygophobia, Scotophobia – fear of darkness.
• Ochlophobia - fear of crowds and/or crowded places.
• Odontophobia - fear of teeth, or of dental surgery
• Ombrophobia - fear of rainstorms
• Onomatophobia - fear of a particular word or name
• Osmophobia, Olfactophobia – fear of smells.
• Panophobia or panphobia or pantophobia - a fear of everything
• Panphobia – fear of everything or constantly afraid without knowing what is causing it.
• Paraskavedekatriaphobia, Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Friggatriskaidekaphobia – fear of Friday the 13th.
• Parturiphobia - fear of childbirth.
• Peccatophobia - a fear of committing sin.
• Phasmophobia - fear of ghosts, spectres or phantasms.
• Phagophobia – fear of swallowing.
• Pharmacophobia – same as medication phobia
• Phobophobia – fear of fear itself or of developing a phobia.
• Phonophobia – fear of loud sounds, or a fear of ones own voice.
• Ponophobia - a fear of pain or of being worked to hard
• Pyrophobia – fear of fire.
• Radiophobia – fear of radioactivity or X-rays.
• Rhypophobia - fear of defecation or of the product feces. See Coprophobia
• Sociophobia – fear of people or social situations
• Scopophobia – fear of being seen, looked at or stared at by others.
• Scotophobia - fear of the dark
• Somniphobia – fear of sleep.
• Spectrophobia – fear of mirrors and one's own reflections.
• Stasibasiphobia - fear of standing erect and walking.
• Stasiphobia - fear of walking.
• Symbolophobia - a fear of smybols
• Taphophobia – 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 phone calls.
• Tetraphobia – fear of the number 4.
• Tokophobia – fear of childbirth.
• Tomophobia – fear or anxiety of surgeries/surgical operations.
• Traumatophobia – a synonym for injury phobia, a fear of having an injury
• Triskaidekaphobia, Terdekaphobia – fear of the number 13.
• Trypanophobia, Belonephobia, Enetophobia – fear of needles or injections.
• Workplace phobia – fear of the work place.
• Xenophobia – fear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens.

Animal phobias

An Animal phobia is a fear of certain animals, a category of specific phobias. While Zoophobia is generic term for animal phobias.

• Ailurophobia or gatophobia – fear/dislike of cats.
• Apiphobia – fear/dislike of bees (also known as Melissophobia).
• Arachnophobia – fear/dislike of spiders.
• Chiroptophobia – fear/dislike of bats.
• Cynophobia – fear/dislike of dogs.
• Entomophobia – fear/dislike of insects.
• Equinophobia – fear/dislike of horses (also known as Hippophobia).
• Herpetophobia - fear/dislike of reptiles.
• Ichthyophobia – fear/dislike of fish.
• Musophobia – fear/dislike of mice and/or rats.
• Ophidiophobia – fear/dislike of snakes.
• Ornithophobia – fear/dislike of birds.
• Scoleciphobia – fear of worms.
• Selachophobia - fear/dislike of sharks.

Non-psychological conditions

• Hydrophobia – fear of water (a symptom of rabies).
• 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

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

• Heliophobia/Heliophobic – aversion to sunlight.
• Ombrophobia – avoidance of rain
• Photophobia (biology) a negative phototaxis or phototropism response, or a tendency to stay out of the light
• Thermophobia – aversion to heat.

Prejudices and discrimination

See also: List of anti-ethnic terms

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

• Biphobia – dislike of bisexuals.
• Chemophobia – prejudice against artificial substances in favour of 'natural' substances.
• Ephebiphobia – fear/dislike of youth.
• Gerontophobia, Gerascophobia – fear of growing old or a hatred of the elderly.
• Heterophobia – fear/dislike of heterosexuals.
• Homophobia – aversion to homosexuality or fear of homosexuals.
• Hoplophobia – aversion to firearms or firearms owners. This word has also gained a certain political notoriety as a dysphemism for "gun control advocate".
• Judeophobia – fear/dislike of Jews.
• Lesbophobia – fear/dislike of lesbian women.
• Pedophobia, Pediophobia – fear/dislike of children.
• Psychophobia – fear/dislike of mentally ill.
• Transphobia – fear or dislike of transgender or transsexual people.
• Xenophobia – fear or dislike of foreigners.

see also

• Affect phobia

References

• Chris Aldrich (2002-12-02). The Aldrich Dictionary of Phobias and Other Word Families, Trafford Publishing.