Uncommon Words for Common (and Not so Common) Phobias

A phobia is defined as an excessive and persistent fear of somebody or something. The word phobia derives from the Greek word for fear, phobos. To the ancient Greeks, phobos was not just a feeling, it was a deity: Phobos, the personification of fear, was the son of no other than Ares (the Roman Mars), god of war. Together with his sister Eris (= strife, discord) and his brother Deimos (= terror, dread, rout), Phobos always accompanied his father in battle.

The name caught on and now the affix -phobia is attached to words denoting our deepest dislikes and dreads (arachnophobia). In a similar vein, the affix -phobe denotes a person suffering from a phobia (arachnophobe), while -phobic is the adjective-forming affix (arachnophobic). The first part of words denoting phobias is derived from either Greek or Latin.

Here is a sampler of some common (and some not so common) phobias:

acrophobia: fear of heights (from the Greek akron = summit)

agoraphobia: fear of public places (from the Greek agora = assembly venue)

ailurophobia: fear of cats (from the Greek ailouros = cat)

apiophobia: fear of bees (from the Latin apis or apes = bee)

aquaphobia: fear of water (from the Latin aqua = water) Cf. hydrophobia

arachibutyrophobia: fear that peanut butter may stick to the roof of one's mouth (I kid you not!) (from the Latin arachis (peanut) + butyrum (butter) )

arachnophobia: fear of spiders (from the Greek arakhne = spider)

bibliophobia: fear of books (from the Greek biblion = book)

claustrophobia: fear of confined spaces (from the Latin claustrum = lock, bolt)

Europhobia: fear (or hatred) of Europe and the European Union

gynophobia: fear of women (from the Greek gune = woman)

hippophobia: fear of horses (from the Greek hippos = horse)

homophobia: fear of homosexuality (from the Greek homos = same)

hydrophobia: fear of water (from the Greek hudor = water) Cf. aquaphobia

musophobia: fear of mice (from the Latin mus = mouse, rat)

nyctophobia: fear of night and of darkness in general (from the Greek nux, nukt- = night)

olfactophobia: fear of smells (from the Latin olfacio>olfacto: to smell at)