A list of phobias from atelophobia to zelotypophobia
We define a phobia as ‘an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something’. You are probably aware of the more common phobias, such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), and agoraphobia (fear of open places), but did you know there are also words which describe the fear of idleness, worms, and even body odour?
Explore the table below to discover the terms for some of the more interesting phobias you may come across. Although if you suffer from logophobia (a fear of words), it’s probably best to step away from this blog now… in fact, our dictionary site may be your worst nightmare!
| Object | Phobia |
| air travel | aerophobia |
| American people and things | Americophobia |
| animals | zoophobia |
| bacteria | bacteriophobia |
| beards | pogonophobia |
| beating | mastigophobia |
| bed | clinophobia |
| bees | apiphobia |
| birds | ornithophobia |
| blood | haemophobia |
| blushing | erythrophobia |
| body odour | bromidrosiphobia |
| bridges | gephyrophobia |
| bullets | ballistophobia |
| burial alive | taphephobia |
| cancer | carcinophobia |
| cats | ailurophobia |
| childbirth | tocophobia |
| children | paedophobia |
| Chinese people and things | Sinophobia |
| church | ecclesiophobia |
| clouds | nephophobia |
| coitus | coitophobia |
| cold | cheimaphobia |
| colour | chromophobia |
| comets | cometophobia |
| computers | cyberphobia |
| constipation | coprostasophobia |
| corpses | necrophobia |
| correspondence | epistolophobia |
| crowds | demophobia/ochlophobia |
| dampness | hygrophobia |
| darkness | scotophobia |
| dawn | eosophobia |
| death | thanatophobia |
| depth | bathophobia |
| dirt | mysophobia |
| disease | pathophobia/nosophobia |
| dogs | cynophobia |
| dreams | oneirophobia |
| drink | potophobia |
| drugs | pharmacophobia |
| dust | koniophobia |
| electricity | electrophobia |
| enclosed places | claustrophobia |
| English people and things | Anglophobia |
| everything | panophobia/pantophobia |
| eyes | ommetaphobia |
| faeces | coprophobia |
| failure | kakorrhaphiaphobia |
| fatigue | kopophobia |
| fear | phobophobia |
| feathers | pteronophobia |
| fever | febriphobia |
| fire | pyrophobia |
| fish | ichthyophobia |
| flesh | selaphobia |
| floods | antlophobia |
| flowers | anthophobia |
| fog | homichlophobia |
| food | cibophobia/sitophobia |
| foreigners | xenophobia |
| freedom | eleutherophobia |
| French people and things | Francophobia/Gallophobia |
| fur | doraphobia |
| German people and things | Germanophobia/Teutophobia |
| germs | bacteriophobia |
| ghosts | phasmophobia |
| glass | nelophobia |
| God | theophobia |
| gold | chrysophobia/aurophobia |
| hair | trichophobia |
| heart disease | cardiophobia |
| heat | thermophobia |
| heaven | uranophobia |
| hell | hadephobia/stygiophobia |
| heredity | patroiophobia |
| high buildings | batophobia |
| high places | acrophobia/hypsophobia |
| home | oikophobia |
| homosexuals | homophobia |
| horses | hippophobia |
| ice | cryophobia |
| ideas | ideophobia |
| idleness | thassophobia |
| illness | nosophobia |
| imperfection | atelophobia |
| infinity | apeirophobia |
| injury | traumatophobia |
| inoculation | trypanophobia/vaccinophobia |
| insanity | lyssophobia/maniphobia |
| insects | entomophobia |
| insect stings | cnidophobia |
| Italian people and things | Italophobia |
| itching | acarophobia |
| jealousy | zelotypophobia |
| justice | dikephobia |
| lakes | limnophobia |
| leprosy | leprophobia |
| lice | pediculophobia |
| light | photophobia |
| lightning | astrapophobia |
| lists | pinaciphobia/katastichophobia |
| loneliness | autophobia/ermitophobia |
| machinery | mechanophobia |
| magic | rhabdophobia |
| marriage | gamophobia |
| men | androphobia |
| metal | metallophobia |
| mice | musophobia |
| microbes | bacillophobia/microbiophobia |
| mirrors | eisoptrophobia |
| mites | acarophobia |
| mobs | ochlophobia |
| money | chrematophobia |
| monsters, giving birth to | teratophobia |
| motion | kinetophobia |
| music | musicophobia |
| names | onomatophobia |
| narrowness | anginophobia |
| needles | belonephobia |
| new things | neophobia |
| night | nyctophobia |
| nudity | gymnophobia |
| open places | agoraphobia |
| pain | algophobia |
| parasites | parasitophobia |
| people | anthropophobia |
| philosophy | philosophobia |
| pins | enetophobia |
| places | topophobia |
| pleasure | hedonophobia |
| poison | toxiphobia |
| politics | politicophobia |
| Pope | papaphobia |
| poverty | peniaphobia |
| precipices | cremnophobia |
| priests | hierophobia |
| punishment | poinephobia |
| rabies | hydrophobophobia |
| rail travel | siderodromophobia |
| religious works of art | iconophobia |
| reptiles | batrachophobia |
| responsibility | hypegiaphobia |
| ridicule | katagelophobia |
| rivers | potamophobia |
| robbers | harpaxophobia |
| ruin | atephobia |
| Russian people and things | Russophobia |
| saints | hagiophobia |
| Satan | Satanophobia |
| scabies | scabiophobia |
| Scottish people and things | Scotophobia |
| sea | thalassophobia |
| sex | erotophobia |
| shadows | sciophobia |
| sharpness | acrophobia |
| shock | hormephobia |
| sin | hamartophobia |
| skin disease | dermatosiophobia/dermatopathophobia |
| sleep | hypnophobia |
| slime | blennophobia |
| small things | microphobia |
| smell | olfactophobia/osmophobia |
| smothering | pnigerophobia |
| snakes | ophidiophobia |
| snow | chionophobia |
| solitude | eremophobia |
| sound | acousticophobia |
| sourness | acerophobia |
| speech | lalophobia/laliophobia/glossophobia/phonophobia |
| speed | tachophobia |
| spiders | arachnophobia |
| standing | stasophobia |
| stars | siderophobia |
| stealing | kleptophobia |
| string | linonophobia |
| stuttering | lalophobia/laliophobia |
| sun | heliophobia |
| swallowing | phagophobia |
| symmetry | symmetrophobia |
| taste | geumatophobia |
| technology | technophobia |
| teeth | odontophobia |
| telephone | telephonophobia |
| thinking | phronemophobia |
| thirteen | triskaidekaphobia |
| thunder | brontophobia/tonitrophobia/keraunophobia |
| time | chronophobia |
| touch | haptophobia |
| travel | hodophobia |
| tuberculosis | phthisiophobia |
| tyrants | tyrannophobia |
| vehicles | ochophobia |
| venereal disease | syphilophobia |
| voids | kenophobia |
| vomiting | emetophobia |
| water | hydrophobia |
| waves | cyrnophobia |
| weakness | asthenophobia |
| wind | anemophobia |
| women | gynophobia |
| words | logophobia |
| work | ergophobia |
| worms | helminthophobia |
| writing | graphophobia |
Where next?
What do you call a baby owl and other baby animals?
Unspellable words? Impossible!
Let’s take a butcher’s at rhyming slang
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