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
turistaphobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
A dread of contaminated water: When Mr. and Mrs. Jones went on their camping trip, they took bottled drinks with them because they both had turistaphobia and were afraid of drinking or using water that might be polluted or impure.
tyrannophobia (s) (noun) (no pl)
A hatred of tyrants: Jim, who lived in a country ruled by a dictator, decided to move to a country far away because he had tyrannophobia and didn't want to live under the rulership of an oppressor.
urophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An intense dislike of urine or of not being able to urinate: Tim had difficulty passing water or peeing, especially while away from home, and after his check-up at the doctor's office and diagnosed as physically fit, Dr. Atherton said he was just having a case of urophobia!
vaccinophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An intense avoidance of vaccines and vaccinations: Some parents who have vaccinophobia refuse to have their children inoculated or immunised, which can result in a disease outbreak and death.
venereophobia (s) (noun), venereophobias (pl)
A fear of venereal diseases propagated directly, or indirectly, by sexual intercourse: A venereophobia includes a dread of getting syphilis, and gonorrhea, or any other sexually transmitted disease.
venustaphobia (s) (noun), venustaphobias (pl)
A fear of beautiful women: Sam has a venustaphobia that gorgeous females don't have any interest in him and so they don't consider him worth being with, especially as a husband or an unmarried partner.
verbophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
1. A dislike of hearing certain words: James has a verbophobia that someone will criticize him for his politically positive opinions of President Trump.
2. Someone who is abnormally afraid to speak or who has an excessive hatred of speaking: Paul's verbophobia is based on the fact that he often stutters or stammers when he is trying to express himself.
vermiphobia (s) (noun), vermiphobias (pl)
An abnormal dread of worms or being infected with worms: Anyone who has vermiphobia usually avoids fresh salads at a restaurant in a foreign town fearing to eat a slimy creature by accident, or even just seeing one on a piece of lettuce!

Worm is coming out of a book.

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vespertiliophobia (s) (noun), vespertiliophobias (pl)
An abnormal horror of bats: After reading the book Dracula, by Bram Stocker, Jill had verspertiliophobia and feared chiropterans, or nocturnal mouselike mammals that fly when it is dusk, and even being bitten by one in the night!
vestiophobia, vestiphobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An aversion of clothing: Since Jane had vestiphobia, she loved going around naked at home, but when she had to wear something, she wanted only garments large enough so as to have a lot of room to move around, and absolutely nothing tight-fitting!
virgivitiphobia (s) (noun), virgivitiphobias (pl)
An excessive fear by women of being raped: Televisions, radios, and newspapers have reported that so many women have been sexually abused in the past, and more recently, which is why virgivitiphobia is heard about so often these days.
virophobia (s) (noun), virophobias (pl)
The angst of being infected with a virus or a microorganism that is smaller than a bacterium: Some people have virophobias because when ultramicroscopic infectious agents enter a cell, they may immediately cause a disease process or an illness may appear years later.
vokephobia (s) (noun), vokephobias (pl)
A fear of returning to one's residence: When little Anthony was walking back to his home in the rain from the school bus, he slipped and fell in the mud and his vokephobia resulted because he was afraid of returning and experiencing his parents being very upset with him for being so careless and getting so muddy.
wicaphobia (s) (noun), wicaphobias (pl)
An irrational fear of witches: Some people who have wicaphobias believe that such creatures actually exist and that they can cause harm to normal humans.
xeniaphobia (s) (noun), xeniaphobias (pl)
A dread of foreign doctors: The xeniaphobia is not caused so much because of their inadequate medical skills but more from their insufficient knowledge of the English language.