List of phobias
The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, abnormal, unwarranted, persistent, or disabling fear as a mental disorder, in chemistry to describe chemical aversions, in biology to describe organisms that dislike certain conditions, and in medicine to describe hypersensitivity to a stimulus, usually sensory. In common usage, they also form words that describe dislike or hatred of a particular thing or subject. The suffix is antonymic to -phil-.
For more information on the psychiatric side, including how psychiatry groups phobias such as agoraphobia, social phobia, or simple phobia, see phobia. The following lists include words ending in -phobia, and include fears that have acquired names. In some cases, the naming of phobias has become a word game, a notable example being a 1998 humorous article published by BBC News. In some cases, a word ending in -phobia may have an antonym with the suffix -phil-, e.g., Germanophobe/Germanophile.
Many -phobia lists circulate on the Internet, with words collected from indiscriminate sources, often copying each other. Also, a number of psychiatric websites exist that at the first glance cover a huge number of phobias, but in fact use a standard text to fit any phobia and reuse it for all unusual phobias by merely changing the name. Sometimes it leads to bizarre results, such as suggestions to cure "prostitute phobia". Such practice is known as content spamming and is used to attract search engines.
An article published in 1897 in the American Journal of Psychology noted, "the absurd tendency to give Greek names to objects feared ".
Psychological conditions
Specialists may prefer to avoid the suffix -phobia and use more descriptive terms such as personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and avoidant personality disorder. Terms should strictly have a Greek prefix, although many are irregularly formed with Latin or even English prefixes. Many use inaccurate or imprecise prefixes, such as aerophobia for fear of flying.A
B
| Phobia | Condition |
| Bacteriophobia | fear of bacteria |
| Basophobia, basiphobia | fear of falling, fear associated with astasia-abasia, or fear of walking/standing erect |
| Batrachophobia | fear/dislike of frogs and other amphibians, a zoophobia |
| Belonephobia | fear of needles or pins |
| Bibliophobia | fear of books |
| Blood-injection-injury type phobia | a DSM-IV subtype of specific phobias |
C
| Phobia | Condition |
| Cacophobia, aschimophobia | fear of ugliness |
| Carcinophobia | fear of cancer |
| Catoptrophobia | fear of mirrors |
| Cephalalgiaphobia | fear of headaches |
| Chemophobia | fear of chemicals |
| Cherophobia | fear of happiness |
| Chionophobia | fear of snow |
| Chromophobia, chromatophobia | fear of colors |
| Chronophobia | fear of time and time moving forward |
| Cibophobia, sitophobia | aversion to food, synonymous with anorexia nervosa |
| Claustrophobia | fear of having no escape and being closed in |
| Coprophobia | fear of feces or defecation |
| Coulrophobia | fear of clowns |
| Cyberphobia | fear of computers |
| Cynophobia | fear/dislike of dogs, a zoophobia |
D
| Phobia | Condition |
| Dendrophobia | fear of trees |
| Dental fear, odontophobia | fear of dentists and dental procedures |
| Dentophobia | fear of dentists |
| Domatophobia | fear of houses |
| Driving phobia, driving anxiety | fear of driving |
| Body dysmorphic disorder, dysmorphophobia | a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect |
| Dystichiphobia | fear of being involved in an accident |
E
| Phobia | Condition |
| Ecophobia | fear of cataclysmic environmental change |
| Eisoptrophobia | fear of mirrors or seeing one's reflection in a mirror |
| Emetophobia | fear of vomiting |
| Enochlophobia | fear of crowds |
| Entomophobia | fear/dislike of insects, a zoophobia |
| Ephebiphobia | fear of youth; inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people |
| Equinophobia | fear of horses, a zoophobia |
| Ergophobia, ergasiophobia | fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating |
| Erotophobia | fear of sexual love or sexual abuse |
| Eurotophobia | aversion to female genitals |
F
| Phobia | Condition |
| Frigophobia | fear of becoming too cold |
G
| Phobia | Condition |
| Galeophobia | fear of sharks |
| Gamophobia | fear of marriage |
| Gelotophobia | fear of being laughed at |
| Gephyrophobia | fear of bridges |
| Genophobia, coitophobia | fear of sexual intercourse |
| Genuphobia | fear of knees or the act of kneeling |
| Gerascophobia | fear of growing old or aging |
| Gerontophobia | fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly |
| Globophobia | fear of balloons |
| Glossophobia | fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak |
| Gymnophobia | fear of nudity |
| Gynophobia | fear of adult women |
H
| Phobia | Condition |
| Halitophobia | fear of bad breath |
| Haphephobia | fear of being touched |
| Heptadekaphobia, heptadecaphobia | fear of the number 17 |
| Hedonophobia | fear of obtaining pleasure |
| Heliophobia | fear of the sun or sunlight |
| Vermiphobia, elminthophobia, scoleciphobia | fear of worms, a zoophobia |
| Hemophobia, haemophobia | fear of blood |
| Herpetophobia | fear/dislike of reptiles or amphibians, a zoophobia |
| Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia | fear of the number 666 |
| Hippophobia | fear/dislike of horses, a zoophobia |
| Hodophobia | fear of travel |
| Hypnophobia, somniphobia | fear of sleep or nightmares |
| Hypochondria | fear of illness |
I
| Phobia | Condition |
| Ichthyophobia | fear of fish, including fear of eating fish, or fear of dead fish, a zoophobia |
| Insectophobia | fear of insects, a zoophobia |
K
| Phobia | Condition |
| Katsaridaphobia | fear of cockroaches, a zoophobia |
| Koumpounophobia | fear of buttons on clothing |
L
| Phobia | Condition |
| Lagophobia | fear of rabbits, a zoophobia |
| Lilapsophobia | fear of tornadoes or hurricanes |
| Lepidopterophobia | fear of butterflies and moths, a zoophobia |
| Logophobia | fear of words |
M
| Phobia | Condition |
| Mageiricophobia | fear of cooking |
| Masklophobia | fear of people in masks, costumes and mascots |
| Melissophobia, apiphobia | fear/dislike of bees, a zoophobia |
| Monophobia | fear of being alone or isolated or of one's self |
| Musophobia, murophobia, suriphobia | fear/dislike of mice or rats, a zoophobia |
| Mycophobia | fear of mushrooms |
| Myrmecophobia | fear of ants, a zoophobia |
| Mysophobia, germophobia | fear of germs, contamination or dirt |
N
| Phobia | Condition |
| Necrophobia | fear of corpses or things associated with death |
| Neophobia, cainophobia, cainotophobia, centophobia, kainolophobia, kainophobia, metathesiophobia, prosophobia | fear of newness, novelty, change or progress |
| Noctiphobia | fear of the night |
| Nomophobia | fear of being out of mobile phone contact |
| Nosocomephobia | fear of hospitals |
| Nosophobia | fear of contracting a disease |
| Numerophobia | fear of numbers |
| Nyctophobia, achluophobia, lygophobia, scotophobia | fear of darkness |
O
| Phobia | Condition |
| Odontophobia | dental fear |
| Ommetaphobia | fear of eyes |
| Oneirophobia | fear of dreams |
| Ophidiophobia | fear/dislike of snakes, a zoophobia |
| Ophthalmophobia, spotligectophobia, scopophobia, scoptophobia | fear of being stared at |
| Ornithophobia | fear/dislike of birds, a zoophobia |
| Osmophobia, olfactophobia | fear of odors |
| Ostraconophobia | fear/dislike of shellfish, a zoophobia |