List of phobias

The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (of Greek origin) occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, disabling fear as a mental disorder (e.g., agoraphobia), in chemistry to describe chemical aversions (e.g., hydrophobic), 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.

Many people apply the suffix -phobia inappropriately to mild or irrational fears with no serious substance; however, earlier senses relate to psychiatry which studies serious phobias which disable a person's life. For more information on the psychiatric side of this, including how psychiatry groups phobias as agoraphobia, social phobia, or simple phobia, see phobia. Treatment for phobias may include desensitization (graduated exposure therapy) or flooding.

The following lists include words ending in -phobia, and include fears that have acquired names. In many cases people have coined these words as neologisms, and only a few of them occur in the medical literature. In many cases, the naming of phobias has become a word game.


 * Note too that no things, substances, or even concepts exist which someone, somewhere may not fear, sometimes irrationally so. A list of all possible phobias would run into many thousands and it would require a whole book to include them all, certainly more than an encyclopedia would be able to contain. So this article just gives an idea of the kind of phobias which one may encounter, certainly not all.

Most of these terms tack the suffix -phobia onto a Greek word for the object of the fear (some use a combination of a Latin root with the Greek suffix, which many classicists consider linguistically impure).

In some cases (particularly the less medically-oriented usages), 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.

Some regard any attempt to create a list of phobias as an irrational endeavor because, theoretically, a person could become conditioned to have a fear of anything. Also, a significant number of unscrupulous psychiatric websites exist that at the first glance cover a huge number of phobias, but in fact use a standard text (see an example below) to fit any phobia and reuse it for all unusual phobias by merely changing the name. For a couple of striking examples.


 * "... Poor performance or grades. Promotions that pass you by. moths phobia will likely cost you tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your lifetime, let alone the cost to your health and quality of life. Now Moths Phobia can be gone for less than the price of a round-trip airline ticket."
 * "... The expert phobia team at CTRN's Phobia Clinic is board-certified to help with Russophobia and a variety of related problems. The success rate of our 24 hour program is close to 100%"
 * "...We don't use hypnosis for Prostitute Phobia but our modern techniques are equally relaxing and enjoyable. Clients immediately notice that they feel different. Once the unconscious mind feels safe and learns how to respond appropriately, it will always know - so the results are permanent. Prostitute Phobia is gone. Forever."

Standard "-phobia" description template
Substituting the string " " with the name of any specific phobia in the text below will give you a fairly correct description. Numerous websites that promise cures for thousands of phobias take this template approach. This does not necessarily mean that they sell snake oil, because the psychological mechanisms of most specific phobias resemble each other.


 * phobia means "fear of ".


 * The condition often significantly impacts the quality of life. It can cause panic attacks and keep people apart from loved ones and business associates. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread, although everyone experiences phobia in their own way and may have different symptoms.


 * Though doctors often prescribe various potent drugs for phobia, severe side-effects and/or withdrawal symptoms can ensue. Moreover, drugs do not "cure" phobia. At best they temporarily suppress the symptoms through chemical interaction.


 * The unconscious mind creates phobia, like other phobias, as a protective mechanism. Probably, at some point in your past, an event occurred linking failure or defeat and emotional trauma. Whilst the original catalyst may have been a real-life scare of some kind, myriad, benign events can also trigger the condition: movies, TV, or perhaps seeing someone else experience trauma.


 * The actual phobia manifests itself in different ways. Some sufferers experience it almost all the time, others just in response to direct stimuli. Everyone has their own unique formula for when and how to feel bad.

While technically we can call anything a phobia, the actual definition of a phobia involves having an irrational fear of something that can cause no physical harm or trauma. For example, to have a fear of (say) cotton balls or of feathers classes as an irrational fear and falls into the correct category of a phobia because such things could in no way cause harm to you. Whereas a fear of a large predatory animals or of hurricanes, as a rational fear, does not classify as a phobia, because such encounters carry a possibility of harm or death.

Psychological conditions
In many cases specialists prefer to avoid the suffix -phobia and use more descriptive terms, see, e.g., Category:Personality disorders, anxiety disorders, avoidant personality disorder, love-shyness, love sickness.
 * Acrophobia, Altophobia — fear of heights.
 * Agoraphobia — fear of a place or event where escape is impossible or when help is unavailiable.
 * Algophobia — fear of pain.
 * Androphobia — fear of males.
 * Anthropomorphobia — fear or dislike of anthropomorphic traits.
 * Aquaphobia, Hydrophobia — fear of water, specifically the morbid fear of drowning.
 * Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia, Keraunophobia — fear of thunder, lightning and storms; especially common in young children.
 * Aviophobia, Aviatophobia — fear of flying.
 * Bacillophobia, Bacteriophobia, Microbiophobia — fear of microbes and bacteria.
 * Bathophobia — fear of depth.
 * Cibophobia, Sitophobia — aversion to food, synonymous to Anorexia nervosa.
 * Claustrophobia — fear of confined spaces.
 * Clinophobia — fear of going to bed or falling asleep.
 * Coulrophobia — fear of clowns (not restricted to evil clowns).
 * Dental phobia, Dentophobia, Odontophobia — fear of dentists and dental procedures.
 * Dysmorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder — a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect.
 * Emetophobia — fear of vomiting.
 * Ergasiophobia, Ergophobia — fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating.
 * Erotophobia — fear of sexual love or sexual questions.
 * Erythrophobia — pathological blushing.
 * Genophobia, Coitophobia — fear of sexual intercourse.
 * Glossophobia — fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.
 * Gymnophobia — fear of nudity.
 * Hoplophobia — fear of firearms (guns).
 * Heliophobia — fear of sunlight.
 * Hemophobia, Haemophobia — fear of blood.
 * Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia — fear of the number 666.
 * Lalophobia, Laliophobia — fear of speaking.
 * Ligyrophobia — fear of loud noises.
 * Mysophobia — fear of germs, contamination or dirt.
 * Necrophobia — fear of death, the dead.
 * Neophobia, Cainophobia, Cainotophobia, Cenophobia, Centophobia, Kainolophobia, Kainophobia — fear of newness, novelty.
 * Nyctophobia, Achluophobia, Lygophobia, Scotophobia — fear of darkness.
 * Osmophobia, Olfactophobia — fear of smells.
 * Paraskavedekatriaphobia, Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Friggatriskaidekaphobia — fear of Friday the 13th.
 * Pyrophobia — fear of fire.
 * Radiophobia — fear of radiation or X-rays.
 * Sociophobia — fear/dislike of society or people in general (see also "sociopath").
 * Taphephobia — fear of the grave, or fear of being placed in a grave while still alive.
 * Technophobia — fear of technology (see also Luddite).
 * Tokophobia — fear of childbirth.
 * Triskaidekaphobia, Terdekaphobia — fear of the number 13.
 * Trypanophobia — fear of needles, injections or of pointed objects.
 * Xenophobia — fear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens.

Zoophobias

 * Ailurophobia, Felinophobia — dislike of cats.
 * Apiphobia, Melissophobia — fear of bees.
 * Arachnophobia — fear of arachnids, usually specific to spiders.
 * Chiroptophobia — fear of bats.
 * Cynophobia — fear of dogs or of rabies.
 * Entomophobia, Insectophobia — fear of insects. (Also the orchid genus Entomophobia.)
 * Equinophobia, Hippophobia — fear of horses.
 * Herpetophobia — fear of reptiles.
 * Musophobia — fear of mice and/or rats.
 * Myrmecophobia — fear of ants.
 * Ophidiophobia — fear of snakes.
 * Ornithophobia — fear of birds.
 * Scoleciphobia — aversion to worms.

Non-psychological conditions
The following medical conditions have nothing to do with irrational fears. However, each usually has a psychological disorder of the same name which is an irrational fear. The behavior of an individual with the medical condition can be similar to the behavior of an individual with the psychological disorder of the same name (e.g., for both usages of Photophobia the person avoids light). The difference in usage is that for the medical term there is an underlying physiological condition that results in the behavior. For example, with medical Photophobia the hypersensitivity to light is sufficient such that at some light levels the person experiences pain which they avoid by seeking darkness. Removing the physiological cause of the hypersensitivity to light results in the person no longer avoiding light. With psychological Photophobia the person fears the light even though there is no current physiological pain caused by light.
 * 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, chemistry
Biologists use a number of -phobia/-phobic terms to describe predispositions by plants and animals against certain conditions. See for antonyms in "Biology" section of the "-phil-" article.
 * Acidophobia/Acidophobic — preference for non-acidic conditions.
 * Heliophobia/Heliophobic — aversion to sunlight.
 * Hydrophobia/Hydrophobic — a property of being repelled by water.
 * Lipophobia/Lipophobic — a property of being insoluble in lipids.
 * Photophobia/Photophobic — a negative phototaxis or phototropism response.
 * Superhydrophobe — the property given to materials that are extremely difficult to get wet.
 * Thermophobia/Thermophobic — aversion to heat.
 * Xerophobia/Xerophobic — aversion to dryness.

Prejudices
One can readily use the suffix -phobia to coin a term that denotes a particular anti-ethnic sentiment, such as Francophobia. Often a synonym with the prefix "anti-" already exists: Polonophobia vs. anti-Polonism. See "List of anti-ethnic terms" for more examples. Anti-religious sentiments are expressed in terms such as Christianophobia and Islamophobia.

Other prejudices include
 * Gerontophobia, fear of growing old or a hatred of old people.
 * Ephebiphobia, Hebephobia — fear/dislike of teenagers.
 * Heterophobia — dislike of heterosexuals.
 * Homophobia — dislike of homosexuality or of becoming homosexual. (This word has become a common political term, and many people interpret it as a slur.)
 * Biphobia — dislike of bisexuals, by either monosexually heterosexuals or homosexuals.
 * Transphobia — fear or dislike of transgender or transsexual people.

Joke and fictional phobias

 * Anachrophobia (book title) — fear of temporal displacement.
 * Aibohphobia — a joke term for the fear of palindromes, using (of course) a palindromic word.
 * Anatidaephobia — fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you (fictional, from a Gary Larson cartoon published in The Far Side Gallery, 4).
 * Arachibutyrophobia — fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. It had circulated in the Internet for some time until it landed at the CTRN Phobia Clinic website (in a way described above, in the section "Standard "-phobia" description template"): "Working one-on-one with one of our team, with guaranteed lifetime elimination of Sticky Peanut Butter Phobia. From $1497 and up."
 * Arachnophobiaphobia - the fear of people who are afraid of spiders. From Gilmore Girls episode 6.22, "Partings":
 * LORELAI: What's it called when you're afraid of people who are afraid of spiders? ‘Cause that one I’ve got.
 * EMILY: Oh, lord.
 * CAROLYN: I don't think there's a technical term for that yet.
 * LORELAI: How about arachnophobiaphobia? 'Cause that makes sense.
 * Luposlipaphobia — the fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly-waxed floor (fictional, also from Gary Larson in the cartoon series The Far Side).
 * Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia — fear of long words. Hippopoto- "big" due to its allusion to the Greek-derived word hippopotamus (though this is derived as hippo- "horse" compounded with potam-os "river", so originally meaning "river horse"; according to the Oxford English, hippopotamine has been construed as large since 1847, so this coinage is reasonable); -monstr- is from Latin words meaning "monstrous", -o- is a pseudo-Greek noun-compounding vowel; -sesquipedali- comes from "sesquipedalian" meaning a long word (literally "a foot and a half long" in Latin), -o- is a pseudo-Greek noun-compounding vowel, and -phobia means "fear".
 * Phobophobia — the fear of fear itself.