10 Of The Weirdest Phobia Names

Phobias Are Real

Many of us have fears of one sort or another, but for those of us with a fear that bridges into phobia, or “a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it,” those fears are on the next level.

Phobias, and the words that describe them, are real, and you should never be judgmental about them. Some of them are very complex and hard to pronounce, although Lucy does a great job with the tongue twisters at her doctor’s booth in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (by the way, if you have a fear of Christmas, you have Christougenniatikophobia).

Check out this selection of incredible phobias, and feel free to leave feedback on Twitter and Facebook (dictionarycom).

Ailurophobia

Ailurophobia is an abnormal fear of cats. Yes, maybe even cute little ones.

Even though we just congratulated Lucy from Peanuts, we’ve got to correct her here: every Christmas we hear Lucy say “if you’re afraid of cats, you have ailurophasia.” Whoops. All these years, she’s been getting “50 cents, please” for the wrong answer. Good grief.

Coprophobia

Coprophobia is an abnormal fear of, well, poop. It’s from the Greek word kopros, meaning dung.

Coulrophobia

If you suffer from coulrophobia, you have a real fear of clowns. Even the happy ones like Ronald McDonald. Hollywood has perpetuated the scary clown concept anyway, so this one feels understandable.

Anthophobia

People with anthophobia have an abnormal fear of flowers. You don’t need to tell them to please not pick the daisies, because they won’t go within 20 feet of them (they don’t like gardens either).

Ochlophobia

This is a common phobia—you have a fear of crowds. Going to a sporting event or a concert would be a real challenge. Agoraphobia also refers to this.

Cyberphobia

Cyberphobics have a great fear of computers. They don’t care much for the internet or technology in general. If they want to get in touch, maybe they’ll mail you a letter?

Logophobia

Logophobia doesn’t represent a fear of sports logos. Truth be told, if you have logophobia, you probably wouldn’t be reading this. It’s an abnormal fear of words.

Astraphobia

Astraphobia is an abnormal fear of thunder and lightning. There are probably a lot of people with a lower-level version of this fear. After all, who enjoys having their house rattled by a big blast of thunder and the accompanying flash of lightning? But hopefully you don’t have to panic after it happens.

Triskaidekaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13, and if you don’t have it, you should consider booking flights for next Friday the 13th—costs are sometimes lower!