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.

—Napoleon Bonparte
traumatophobiac (s) (noun), traumatophobiacs (pl)
1. A person who is devastated by having an injury: Amanda, who was a traumatophobiac, was terrified of learning how to drive a car because she had a pathological panic of having an accident and of hurting herself and others.
2. Someone who has a horror of war: Jake, a traumatophobiac, was a soldier at combat and was exposed to so much blood, physical harm, suffering, and loss that he decided to become a pacifist.
tremophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An irrational, morbid dread of trembling: Eric was so scared before giving a speech, that he had tremophobia and feared he would shiver and shake so much that he wouldn't be able to hold his notes!
trichinophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An excessive fear of the disease caused by the nematode, trichina: Because Catherine had trichinophobia, she was sure to properly prepare and cook her meals containing pork until the pork was no longer pink, thus killing any roundworms that perhaps might be present.
trichopathophobia (s) (noun) (no pl)
An abnormal anxiety of hair, its color, growth, or disorders: Jill developed trichopathophobia because she was very concerned about her tresses after hearing about her friend Jill and the illness she had regarding losing her long locks!
trichophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
A persistent revulsion of hair caused by seeing or touching loose hair: Polly discovered she had trichophobia when she had to brush off the gray whiskers from her grandfather's coat when he grew very old and couldn't do it himself, and she found this very disgusting.
triskaidekaphobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
1. A dread of the number thirteen: Jim was told by his psychiatrist that his irrational fear of the digit between twelve and fourteen was called triskaidekaphobia.
2. Etymology: from Greek treiskaideka, “thirteen”; from treis, "three"; kai, "and"; deka, "ten" + -phobia, "fear".
A fear of the number 13.
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Fear of 13.

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troglophobia (s) (noun), troglophobias (pl)
An abnormal panic of being in cavities or chambers in the ground: Spelunkers certainly don't have troglophobias or they couldn't survive during their explorations.
troglophobic (adjective), more troglophobic, most troglophobic
Referring to an excessive hatred or fear of being in a subterrane: When Sam and Jim were climbing up a mountain, a sudden thunder storm took place and Jim had a serious troglophobic reaction and refused to go into the cavern, so he just stood near the entrance.
tropophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
A fear or strong aversion to making changes or of moving: A decision to relocate into a new city can cause a person to have tropophobia by leaving the familiar surroundings and going to a strange and unknown place.
trypanophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An angst of inoculations, injections, or of needles: James feared acupuncture because of the sharp pointed implements which were used, and he also had a horror of vaccinations as well, and finally had trypanophobia!
trypophobe (s) (noun), trypophobes (pl)
A person who has an abnormal dread about clusters of small holes: Tamika claims that as a trypophobe, she has severe attacks of anxiety or stress, a tendency to vomit, and nightmares when she encounters the sight of rotting wood, holes in the bathtub drain, etc.
trypophobia (s) (noun), trypophobias (pl)
1. A great fear of holes or of clusters of holes: Trypophobias apparently consist of spectral compositions that are typically associated with uncomfortable visual images which probably exist partly because of an association with dangerous organisms.

Trypophobia has been identified as a strong aversion to the sight of objects which are clustered with holes.

2. Etymology: from Greek trypo, "punching, drilling, or boring holes" + phobia, "fear".
trypophobic (s) (noun), trypophobics (pl)
Someone who is abnormally afraid of small clustered openings: Jim, as a trypophobic, claims that seeing small holes, such as those in beehives and ant holes, is very disturbing for him.
trypophobic (adjective), more trypophobic, most trypophobic
A reference to a strong abhorrence of small perforations: Karl saw a bunch of lotus-flower seedpods, flat-faced pods full of small openings, and he seemed to develop a trypophobic reaction to bunches of small openings, including those seen in beehives and ant holes.

Some trypophobic conditions include the visual characteristics of very poisonous animals.

tuberculophobia (s) (noun)
An abnormal trepidation of being infected with tuberculosis: Mary's friend was diagnosed with the disease of tuberculosis, and following this terrible piece of news Mary developed tuberculophobia herself when she noticed that she panicked just of the thought of this terrible illness!