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.
A reference to materials that repel liquids consisting of water and oil: Omniphobic is a newly coined word meaning "it hates everything".
The substance forces away watery and oily liquids into tight droplets due to its surface texture, made up of 300-nanometer-tall "toadstools" with broad silicon dioxide caps and narrow silicon stems.
Water has very high surface tension, 72 milliNewtons per meter (mN/m) at room temperature, which means it easily forms near-spherical drops when placed on a surface.
Because of their near-spherical shape, the droplets meet the surface at a high angle above 150° if the water is sitting on a superhydrophobic surface.
A fear of having "wet dreams": Having soiled sheets the next morning was something that Tim was certainly very afraid of and his doctor said that he had developed oneirogmophobia.
An intense horror of dreaming: Sam was frightened of the nightmares that he had sometimes, which caused him difficulty in going to sleep, and he found out that it was caused by oneirophobia!
An excessive abhorrence of snakes or other reptiles: Jill had ophiciophobia and avoided that part of the zoo with lizards and serpents when her class went there on a field trip.
An abnormal dread of being stared at: Whenever Jane went to a concert she always dressed in dark colors and sat in the last row, hoping that nobody would see her because she suffered from ophthalmophobia.
An exaggerated dislike of opening one's eyes: Somehow every morning Doug, who was affected with optophobia, never wanted to see what was around him fearing what he would see wasn't nice or comforting, so he just stayed in bed and didn't look at anything.
An excessive fear of birds: When Susan was just a little girl, she had a very bad experience with her pet parakeet when she was severely bitten by it, causing her to have ornithophobia, and she avoided all birds, even those chirping in the garden!
An extreme reverence or awe of proper behaviour or propriety: Mr. Smith was always overly concerned about being correct, having the appropriate deportment, and saying the right thing at the right time, and was considered by his friends as having orthophobia!
A dread of kissing or being kissed: After learning about different diseases that can be passed on from one person to another, Grace developed osculaphobia because she was terribly afraid of catching an illness when caressing someone with her lips.
An intense aversion of shellfish: Toby just couldn't stand having lobster when his family went out to dine at a restaurant because he had ostraconophobia and wanted lobsters alive in water and not eat them!
An abnormal fear of heaven: The sky seemed to be so vast, immense, and never-ending that Judy became totally afraid and frightened of it and her mother thought she might have ouranophobia and checked with the doctor concerning this issue.
An intense aversion of dolls or children: If you have paedophobia, it wouldn't be wise to become a teacher at an elementary school where the students are from about 6 to 12 years old!
A loathing of ice or frost: After Lynn fell down on some frozen water on her way to the store, she had a strong animosity toward such extremely slippery places and thereafter had pagophobia!
An immoderate hostility about the past: Mr. and Mrs. Conner didn't like to have any old things from their ancestors in their home because they only wanted to have contemporary furniture and modern art, and it became so irrational that they were thought to have paleophobia!
paleophobic (adjective), more paleophobic, most paleophobic
Referring to someone who detests old things: Susan was certainly paleophobic because she threw away anything that was antiquated or old-fashioned because she was afraid that the items would become ragged and shabby, although they were in perfect shape!
