10 Phobias Explained: The Words Behind Our Fears
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Every phobia name is built from a Greek root plus -phobia. Here are 10 phobias explained, from the everyday to the wonderfully obscure.
Nearly every phobia name follows one simple formula: a Greek root for the thing feared, plus -phobia, from Greek phobos, 'fear'. Learn the formula and you can decode — or even build — the name of almost any fear.
Here are 10 phobias explained, from the very common to the delightfully obscure. Together they are a mini-lesson in how Greek roots assemble into English words.
How are phobia names built?
The pattern is always the same: a root naming what is feared, then -phobia. Hydro- (water) gives hydrophobia; xeno- (stranger) gives xenophobia; bronto- (thunder) gives brontophobia. Once you know the roots, the words explain themselves.
Some are surprisingly modern. Nomophobia — the fear of being without a mobile phone — was coined in the 2000s from a shortening of 'no mobile'. And the fear of long words carries a famously, deliberately long name: hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.
10 phobias and what they mean
1. nomophobia
“Fear of being without a mobile phone” — From nomo-, derived from a colloquial shortening of 'no mobile' (referring to 'no cell phone'), combined with -phobia meaning fear.
2. hydrophobia
“Fear of water or drowning” — From Late Latin and Greek, derived from hydr- and -phobia.
3. xenophobia
“A fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers” — From Greek xenos 'stranger, foreigner' + phobos 'fear'.
4. brontophobia
“Fear of thunder and lightning” — From Greek brontē ‘thunder’ + phobos ‘fear’, early 20th century coinage.
5. bathophobia
“An intense fear of depths or deep things” — From Greek 'bathos' (depth) + 'phobia' (fear).
6. triskaidekaphobia
“Fear of the number thirteen” — From Greek 'treiskaideka' (thirteen) + 'phobia' (fear).
7. decidophobia
“Fear of making decisions” — Coined by philosopher Walter Kaufmann in 1973.
8. ergophobia
“Fear of work” — From Greek ergon 'work' + phobos 'fear'.
9. kakorrhaphiophobia
“Fear of failure” — From Greek kakorrhaphia 'a devising of evil, failure' + phobos 'fear'.
10. hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
“Ironically, the fear of long words” — From Latin 'sesquipedalian' (long word) with added prefixes to exaggerate length.
Frequently asked questions
What does '-phobia' mean?
-phobia comes from Greek phobos, meaning 'fear' or 'panic'. It attaches to a root naming the thing feared, so hydrophobia is fear of water.
What is the fear of long words called?
It is jokingly called hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia — a deliberately enormous word built from Latin and Greek parts, playing on the very fear it names.
What is the most modern phobia word?
Nomophobia, the fear of being without a working mobile phone, is one of the newest. It was coined in the 2000s from a shortening of 'no mobile phone'.
Can I figure out a phobia I have never seen?
Often, yes. If you know the Greek root, the meaning follows: bronto- is thunder, so brontophobia is fear of thunder. Learning roots is the key to decoding whole word families.
