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.
Someone who has a pathological dread of sounds: Mrs. Hathaway always lived by herself and wasn't used to loud noises, and, as a phonophobic, listened to music with the volume turned quite low!
1. A pathological fear of light being directed upon the eyes: Whenever George had to go to the ophthalmologist for a regular checkup, he had photaugiaphobia because of his hatred of the glaring beam of luminance that was directed into his organs of vision.
2. An intolerance of light glare: Some plants, having photaugiaphobia, only grow in shady areas and avoid the sun, as with some forms of the fern, otherwise they would die.
2. An intolerance of light glare: Some plants, having photaugiaphobia, only grow in shady areas and avoid the sun, as with some forms of the fern, otherwise they would die.
Susan, affected by photaugiophobia, had to be very careful of the blazing sun in the desert which could cause photalgia, a pain caused by such dazzling rays of sunshine, so she always wore sunglasses as much as possible.
1. An excessive avoidance of light: Mrs. Jones, suffering from photophobia, had light-coloured eyes which were very sensitive to the brilliance of the sun and caused her much discomfort and pain.
2. In botany, the tendency to thrive in reduced light: Moss, which exhibits photophobia, grows in moist, shady areas and won't survive well in sunlight!
3. Intolerance of full light: Photophobia is indicated by troglobites, animals which spend their entire lives in caves and having adapted a loss of body pigmentation, a loss of sight, and slow metabolic activity.
2. In botany, the tendency to thrive in reduced light: Moss, which exhibits photophobia, grows in moist, shady areas and won't survive well in sunlight!
3. Intolerance of full light: Photophobia is indicated by troglobites, animals which spend their entire lives in caves and having adapted a loss of body pigmentation, a loss of sight, and slow metabolic activity.
photophobic (adjective), more photophobic, most photophobic
Descriptive of a person who is excessively fearful of bright lights: Mr. Johnson was photophobic in that he always wore sunglasses when he went outside because of the glaring brilliancy of the sun.
In biology, a response of an organism to a temporal change in light intensity:
Photophobotaxis can be explained by a cell or living thing moving towards the intensity of brilliance, termed as positive, or moves away from the source, termed as negative.
An irrational aversion of thinking or a dread of losing one's mind: Jack was certain he left his keys in the basket, but didn't find them there, and thought he was going mad or was crazy, and therefore suffering from phrenophobia!
An abnormal fear of thinking or of having an embarrassing thought: After the very bad experience with her cousin, Jenny decided never to ruminate or reason about it again, dreading the memories of the past, and therefore developed phronemopobia.
An uncontrollable apprehension about getting tuberculosis, or of being around those who have it: Pete's roommate in the hospital was a patient who was infected with tuberculosis, and so Pete pleaded with his doctor to move him into a room away from the sick man because he had a phthisiophobia, or a morbid fear of being infected with the other guy's TB.
An excessive fear of leaves: Each time Virginia saw the excessive amount of leafage on the ground in the fall, she had phyllophobia because it was the time of year to do the raking which took many days to complete!
An excessive horror of tombstones: Anna, being a very sensitive girl and having placophobia, dreaded graveyards and the headstones and memorial monuments of the buried, imagining the ones who passed away rising again to haunt the living!
A plant or animal that cannot normally exist when there is a lot of rain: Desert plants, such as cacti, cannot tolerate conditions when there is an abnormally large amount of precipitation and are therefore considered to be pluviophobes.
In school, Jack learned that scorpions are pluviophobes because they usually live in dry regions, not in wet areas.
1. An abnormal fear of rain: Because her parents died in a deluge and flooding when she was a child, Jane developed pluviophobia and avoided going outside even when it was just sprinkling.
2. In biology, life-threatening conditions for certain species of plants and other life forms when there are large amounts of rainfall: Valerie received orchids and a book about them as birthday presents and she read that orchids were affected by pluviophobia requiring very little water, plenty of light from outside, but no direct sunlight, and should exist at room temperature.
2. In biology, life-threatening conditions for certain species of plants and other life forms when there are large amounts of rainfall: Valerie received orchids and a book about them as birthday presents and she read that orchids were affected by pluviophobia requiring very little water, plenty of light from outside, but no direct sunlight, and should exist at room temperature.
pluviophobous (adjective), more pluviophobous, most pluviophobous
Pertaining to plants or animals that cannot survive in heavy amounts of rain: Worms, spiders and flies are pluviophobous creatures, which certainly are not able to continue living after being drenched with a large quantity of water.
An unacceptable condition or situation that involves extensive rainfall which makes it impossible for certain life forms to survive: Because of the uncommon and sudden pluviophoby in the desert, the water gushed over the sun-baked ground taking and destroying much animal and plant life along the way to the basins.
1. An intense dread of incorporeal or disembodied beings: Jane never liked to read books or see movies with ghosts, spirits or other apparitions because she had pneumatophobia and got totally nervous and anxious when confronted with these spooky things!
2. A hatred of air or drafts: Annette, suffering from pneumatophobia, always had the doors and windows closed because she couldn't stand having any wind breezing through her rooms.
2. A hatred of air or drafts: Annette, suffering from pneumatophobia, always had the doors and windows closed because she couldn't stand having any wind breezing through her rooms.
