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 irrational dread of speed: Nancy never wanted to go with her uncle in his car since he always drove extremely fast on the freeways, and she developed a case of tachophobia because of that!
A morbid fear of tapeworms: Janet, suffering from teniophobia, had a horror of the long flat parasites because they could cause serious ailments in the stomach and intestines of animals, or even people.
In psychiatry, an terrific horror of being buried alive: James developed a case of tapheophobia after reading a story about a girl thought to be dead and then, just before she was to be interred, was found to be living!
Someone who has an abnormal fear of going into or being near cemeteries: Susie, being a taphophobiac, never went near a graveyard if she could help it because she dreaded hearing the imagined noises emitting from inside the caskets!
An excessive angst of small things: Jenny was always afraid of losing tiny items, like pins or earrings, and had developed tapinophobia before she went to her family doctor to find out more about her problem.
1. An excessive fright of bulls: Having taurophobia, little Alice definitely avoided going to her uncle's farm because of the cattle and oxen which he had.
2. Disapproval of bullfighting: Jane, having taurophobia, was apposed to the corridas seen in Spain or in Portugal in which one bull in an arena is baited and killed by a matador in front of the spectators.
2. Disapproval of bullfighting: Jane, having taurophobia, was apposed to the corridas seen in Spain or in Portugal in which one bull in an arena is baited and killed by a matador in front of the spectators.
An extreme aversion to technology: Slowly, but surely, the technophobias among people shunning the use of computers, answering systems, or cell phones are becoming less.
1. A fear of religious ceremonies: Brenda, who had teleophobia, never liked to go to church on Sundays because she found the church services so boring, feeling that she had to participate, and she thought that the sermons did not help her with her daily life.
2, A great unwillingness to acknowledge that things tend to end: Nathan, affected by teleophobia, never seemed to complete his stamp project, and always thought of something more to add or to improve.
2, A great unwillingness to acknowledge that things tend to end: Nathan, affected by teleophobia, never seemed to complete his stamp project, and always thought of something more to add or to improve.
A abnormal or irrational reluctance of using the telephone: Ned, suffering from telephonophobia, avoided answering the phone because he was afraid of being criticized, being talked into buying something, being judged, or having to speak on the answering machine.
1. An abnormal angst of bearing a malformed baby: Marlene had teratophobia and dreaded giving birth to a handicapped, disfigured or ugly baby.
2. An excessive disgust of deformed individuals, including pregnant women: Some people suffering from teratophobia try to avoid those who are unappealing or aesthetically unattractive, hideous, unsightly, or repulsive.
2. An excessive disgust of deformed individuals, including pregnant women: Some people suffering from teratophobia try to avoid those who are unappealing or aesthetically unattractive, hideous, unsightly, or repulsive.
An irrational dread of the number thirteen: When Rachel decided to buy a condo, she didn't even look at the one between the floors 12 and 14 because she had terdekaphobia, or "triskaidekaphobia", because she thought that the digit 13 would bring her bad luck!
A hatred of taking tests: Many students think they have testophobia because they detest taking the required tests in school.
An excessive fear of Germany: After Zoe met a German boy at school, she thought he was a very nice and agreeable person, and from then on she overcame her teutonophobia, also termed "Germanophobia", and wanted to visit him and his family in Germany some day!
An irrational dread of specific kinds of fabrics: Tracy, suffering from textophobia, couldn't stand to wear any woolen clothes or scarves because they scratched and irritated her skin, so she wore only apparel made from cotton or silk!
An excessive dislike of sitting or of being idle: Thelma, who had thaasophobia, always wanted to do something constructive and never to be unoccupied, so she always had some knitting or mending to do, besides reading, baking, and working at the computer.
