phobo-, phob-, -phobia, -phobias, -phobe, -phobiac, -phobist, -phobic, -phobism, -phobous
(Greek: fear, extreme fear of; morbid, excessive, irrational fear, or terror of something or someone; however, sometimes this Greek element also means a strong dislike, dread, or hatred for something or someone)
For more details about the various phobias, visit this Phobias Introduction page to see Phobia Variations Defined and Explained.
There are only two forces that unite men: fear and self-interest.
An exaggerated fear of marriage: After experiencing his parents divorce and all the conflicts involved before and afterwards, Roy, having gametophobia, decided that he never wanted to agree to wedlock or matrimony, but he did have a lot of friends.
An abnormal repulsion of laughter or being around people who laugh: Sam, being so serious and suffering from gelophobia ever since he was a child, didn't understand or like anybody chuckling or giggling about things, thinking they were much too silly or making jokes about him.
An abnormal fear of being laughed at: Greg couldn't remember the time when he developed a gelotophobia, which described his intense disgust of being joked about or of being ridiculed, and he was even quite worried thinking the others were giggling about him behind his back.
An excessive fear of chins: Kate, suffering from geniophobia, dreaded the looks of other people and seeing the protruding parts of their lower jaws, especially if they were imperfect, somehow injured, too prominent, or even when they looked deformed or hideous.
An abnormal aversion to sexual intercourse: Genophobia, also termed coitophobia, is related to a dread of having erotic relations with another person and can produce panic and fear, resulting in having trouble with romantic relationships and intimacy.
A fear of knees or of kneeling: Patricia, suffering from genuphobia, never liked her bones in the middle of her legs because of a previous injury which left very bad scars, so she always wore jeans or long skirts or dresses covering that part of her body.
An abnormal fear of crossing over bridges, especially over water: Because Doug had gephyrophobia, he decided that Venice was not the place to visit!
An aversion of growing old: Gerascophobia is based on anxieties of being left alone, of being without resources, and of being incapable of caring for oneself both physically and intellectually.
An intense dislike of Germany, its people, its culture, its language, or of German ideas: Thomas was very troubled with Germanophobia until he met Heike and Gretel, who gave him a completely different impression of the country and its wonderful food and way of life.
An aversion of unfamiliar tastes: Somehow Tim, suffering from geumaphobia, always avoided anything new to eat, fearing that the food would be unpleasant or even bad, and therefore there were only a very few restaurants he would go to.
There is a disorder known as "gustatory agnosia", in which food becomes very bland or even has a disgusting flavor. People who have this condition may also lose their ability to smell or may find that formerly pleasant odors have become offensive.
With an inability to smell, such phobics may fear that since they can no longer smell previous items, they might be eating or drinking something that formerly caused them anxieties.
The fear of sticking out one's neck. [From Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun by Donald E. Dossey]: Simple Jane, who was very quiet and quite troubled with giraffeophobia, never spoke out and said what she really thought or felt because she was afraid of being rebuked or admonished by others.
The extreme avoidance of speaking in public or of trying to speak: Melanie, who was a very quiet person and had a problem of stuttering, hated talking in front of others and her doctor said that she suffered from glossophobia.
A pathological and extreme aversion of writing: Arno wasn't very good in school, especially in English and suffered from graphophobia, and he avoided jotting down anything, even a shopping list or his signature while others were looking!
This may be a result of a fear of criticism of one's penmanship and misspellings, as well as a fear of committing ideas to paper for others to see.
A very strong dislike of North Americans or white strangers: The Latin Americans, intensely affected by gringophobia and who were deciding on a cruise, made sure they didn't go to countries like the USA or Canada because they had an extreme aversion towards the Caucasians who lived there.
1. A pathological fear of being seen without wearing any garments: Sometimes gymnophobia can be noticed among children going through puberty because they don’t want to be seen naked and so they avoid changing rooms, showers, and beaches.
2. A morbid dread of seeing a person without any attire on or of any normally uncovered parts of the body: There are some people who have gymnophobia and so they never take a shower with others because they don't want to see others in the nude.
2. A morbid dread of seeing a person without any attire on or of any normally uncovered parts of the body: There are some people who have gymnophobia and so they never take a shower with others because they don't want to see others in the nude.
