Random Phobia Generator: 126 Named Fears and What Each Name Means

One press draws five fears from a list of 150, each with the thing feared and the word its name was built from, and one button hides the meanings for a quiz.

Random Phobia Generator: 126 Named Fears and What Each Name Means

  1. AnatidaephobiaJoke name
  2. Being photographed
  3. Getting lost in a strange city
  4. Anthophobia
  5. Nosocomephobia
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Random Phobia Generator: 126 Named Fears and What Each Name Means: how it works

Five fears come up from the 150 in this random phobia generator: 126 named fears, from arachnophobia to the fear of the number 17, plus 24 everyday fears for characters. Each named card says what is feared and which Greek or Latin word built the name. Filter by root language, or hide the meanings and guess.

Most phobia names are coinages, not diagnoses

Almost any Greek word can take -phobia on the end, so new names keep arriving. In 1897 the American Journal of Psychology already called it an absurd tendency to give Greek names to objects feared. Trypophobia was coined on a forum in 2005. The DSM-5, psychiatry's standard manual, keeps no such list. It sorts specific phobias into five types: animal, natural environment, blood and injection, situational and other.

Everyday fears for story characters

As a random fear generator for fiction, tap Everyday fears. The draw turns to 24 plain ones, such as being late or opening the mail, and each card carries a story note instead of a root. A fear earns its place when the plot forces the character to face it, so draw a random scenario next.

Tips

  • Learning roots? Tap Animals, draw 5 and press Hide all meanings. Cynophobia, hippophobia and ornithophobia hide the Greek you already know from cynic, hippopotamus and ornithology.
  • For a quiz round, hide the meanings and let teams guess the fear from the name. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is fair once they hear it spells a number.
  • Writing a character? Draw one named fear and one everyday fear. The first hands you a scene, the second a habit that shows on every page.

Questions and answers

Are these real phobias?

They are real words, and most are not medical terms, which is why the page says named fears. A few, such as agoraphobia, are used in medicine. Four are outright jokes and carry a Joke name badge, such as aibohphobia, a fear of palindromes that is itself a palindrome. Nothing here describes symptoms or treatment, and a draw says nothing about you.

Why do some fears have two names?

Usually because one name was built from Greek and the other from Latin. Bees get melissophobia from Greek melissa and apiphobia from Latin apis, and sleep gets hypnophobia and somniphobia. The ending -phobia is Greek, so a Latin front half makes a mixed word, and claustrophobia is one of those.

What is the longest name on the list?

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, a joke name for the fear of long words, at 35 letters. It stretches sesquipedalian, from Latin for a foot and a half long, by adding a hippopotamus and a monster. The longest name that is not a joke is hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, the fear of 666, at 29 letters.

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All 150 fears

Animals 21

  • Ailurophobia Fear of cats. From Greek ailouros, cat. First recorded in 1905.
  • Alektorophobia Fear of chickens. From Greek alektor, rooster.
  • Anatidaephobia Joke fear that a duck is watching you. Cartoonist Gary Larson made it up in 1988 from Anatidae.
  • Apiphobia Fear of bees. From Latin apis, bee, as in apiary.
  • Arachnophobia Fear of spiders and other arachnids, scorpions included. From Greek arachne, spider.
  • Batrachophobia Fear of frogs and other amphibians. From Greek batrachos, frog. In use since the 1800s.
  • Chiroptophobia Fear of bats. Built on Chiroptera, the scientific name of the order of bats.
  • Cynophobia Fear of dogs. From Greek kyon, dog, the same root that gave English the word cynic.
  • Entomophobia Fear of insects. From Greek entomon, insect. Insectophobia is the Latin-based twin.
  • Galeophobia Fear of sharks. From Greek galeos, a kind of shark. Selachophobia, from selachos, means the same.
  • Herpetophobia Fear of reptiles and amphibians. From Greek herpeton, a creeping animal.
  • Hippophobia Fear of horses. From Greek hippos, horse. Equinophobia says the same with a Latin-based word.
  • Ichthyophobia Fear of fish, alive, dead or on a plate. From Greek ichthys, fish.
  • Katsaridaphobia Fear of cockroaches. From katsarida, the Modern Greek word for cockroach, not an ancient one.
  • Lepidopterophobia Fear of butterflies and moths. Built on Lepidoptera, the scientific name of their order.
  • Melissophobia Fear of bees, named a second time in Greek. From melissa, bee.
  • Musophobia Fear of mice and rats. From Latin mus or Greek mys. Both mean mouse.
  • Myrmecophobia Fear of ants. From Greek myrmex, ant.
  • Ophidiophobia Fear of snakes. From Greek ophis, serpent. The shorter ophiophobia means the same thing.
  • Ornithophobia Fear of birds. From Greek ornis, bird, the root of ornithology.
  • Zoophobia Fear of animals in general. From Greek zoion, animal. Each animal fear here is one kind of it.

Nature and weather 20

  • Ancraophobia Fear of wind or drafts. Nobody has traced where the first half of the word comes from.
  • Anemophobia Fear of wind. From Greek anemos, wind, as in anemometer.
  • Anthophobia Fear of flowers. From Greek anthos, flower, as in anthology, first a gathering of flowers.
  • Aquaphobia Fear of water. From Latin aqua. Hydrophobia, the Greek version, became a name for rabies.
  • Astraphobia Fear of thunder and lightning. From Greek astrape, lightning.
  • Brontophobia Fear of thunder. From Greek bronte, thunder, the root that also named the brontosaurus.
  • Chionophobia Fear of snow. From Greek chion, snow.
  • Dendrophobia Fear of trees. From Greek dendron, tree.
  • Frigophobia Fear of becoming too cold. From Latin frigus, cold. Cryophobia is the Greek version.
  • Heliophobia Fear of the sun or sunlight. From Greek helios, sun.
  • Hylophobia Fear of forests and wooded places. From Greek hyle, wood.
  • Lilapsophobia Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes. From Greek lailaps, hurricane.
  • Mycophobia Fear of mushrooms and other fungi. From Greek mykes, mushroom.
  • Nephophobia Fear of clouds. From Greek nephos, cloud.
  • Nyctohylophobia Fear of dark forests. Stacks two Greek roots: nyx, night, on hyle, wood.
  • Nyctophobia Fear of night and darkness. From Greek nyx, night. Scotophobia and achluophobia are close kin.
  • Ombrophobia Fear of rain. From Greek ombros, a storm of rain.
  • Pyrophobia Fear of fire. From Greek pyr, fire.
  • Selenophobia Fear of the Moon. From Selene, the Greek name for the Moon.
  • Thalassophobia Fear of the sea and of deep, wide water. From Greek thalassa, sea.

Places and situations 18

  • Acrophobia Fear of heights. From Greek akros, highest or at the extremity, as in acropolis.
  • Aerophobia Fear of flying. From Greek aer, air. In medicine it can also mean an aversion to moving air.
  • Agoraphobia Fear of open or crowded places. From Greek agora, assembly. Karl Westphal coined it in 1871.
  • Amaxophobia Fear of riding in a vehicle. From Greek hamaxa, wagon, with the h dropped along the way.
  • Atychiphobia Fear of failure. From Greek atyches, unfortunate.
  • Claustrophobia Fear of closed, tight places. From Latin claustrum, a shut-in place, and first used in a medical journal.
  • Cleithrophobia Fear of being trapped or locked in. From Greek kleithron, a bar for closing a door.
  • Climacophobia Fear of staircases or of falling down them. From Greek klimax, ladder, the root of climax.
  • Cremnophobia Fear of cliffs and sheer drops. From Greek kremnos, cliff.
  • Decidophobia Fear of making decisions. Plain English decide plus -phobia. Walter Kaufmann used it in a 1973 book title.
  • Didaskaleinophobia Fear of going to school. From Greek didaskaleion, school.
  • Ergophobia Fear of work. From Greek ergon, work, as in ergonomics.
  • Gephyrophobia Fear of bridges, above all of crossing one. From Greek gephyra, bridge.
  • Hodophobia Fear of travel. From Greek hodos, road or journey.
  • Nosocomephobia Fear of hospitals. From Greek nosokomeion, hospital.
  • Siderodromophobia Fear of trains and railways. From Greek sideros, iron, and dromos, course: the iron road.
  • Submechanophobia Fear of man-made objects sunk under water. Built from sub-, under, and mechano-, machine.
  • Taphophobia Fear of being buried alive. From Greek taphos, grave.

People and social 20

  • Allodoxaphobia Fear of other people's opinions. From Greek allos, other, and doxa, opinion.
  • Anthropophobia Fear of people or of human company. From Greek anthropos, human.
  • Atelophobia Fear of imperfection, of never being good enough. Built from Greek a-, not, and telos, end.
  • Athazagoraphobia Fear of being forgotten or ignored. No one has traced the first half of the word to a source.
  • Autophobia Fear of being alone or isolated. From Greek auto-, self.
  • Cherophobia An aversion to being happy. From Greek chara, joy.
  • Chorophobia Fear of dancing. From Greek choros, dance, the root of chorus and choreography.
  • Coulrophobia Fear of clowns. Coined in the late 1980s or 1990s, source unknown. It first turned up in online lists.
  • Erythrophobia Fear of blushing. From Greek erythros, red.
  • Gamophobia Fear of marriage. From Greek gamos, marriage, as in monogamy.
  • Gelotophobia Fear of being laughed at. From Greek gelos, laughter.
  • Glossophobia Fear of public speaking. From Greek glossa, tongue.
  • Haphephobia Fear of being touched. From Greek haphe, touch.
  • Monophobia Fear of being alone. From Greek monos, alone. Eremophobia, from eremos, lonely, is close.
  • Ochlophobia Fear of mob-like crowds. From Greek ochlos, crowd. Enochlophobia and demophobia overlap with it.
  • Peniaphobia Fear of poverty. From Greek penia, poverty, a cousin of Latin penuria and English penury.
  • Phasmophobia Fear of ghosts. From Greek phasma, an apparition or phantom.
  • Philophobia Fear of falling in love. From Greek philos, dear or beloved.
  • Pogonophobia Fear or strong dislike of beards. From Greek pogon, beard. In print since about 1852.
  • Scopophobia Fear of being looked at or stared at. From Greek skopeo, to look at or examine.

Body and health 20

  • Ablutophobia Fear of washing or bathing. From Latin ablutio, a washing, as in ablutions.
  • Aichmophobia Fear of sharp or pointed things such as pins and knives. From Greek aichme, spearhead.
  • Algophobia Fear of pain. From Greek algos, pain, the root inside nostalgia and analgesic.
  • Belonephobia Fear of needles and pins. From Greek belone, needle.
  • Dentophobia Fear of dentists. From Latin dens, tooth. Odontophobia builds the same fear on Greek odous.
  • Emetophobia Fear of vomiting. From Greek emeo, I vomit.
  • Hemophobia Fear of blood. From Greek haima, blood. British spelling keeps the a: haemophobia.
  • Hypnophobia Fear of falling asleep. From Greek hypnos, sleep. Somniphobia is the Latin-based twin.
  • Iatrophobia Fear of doctors or of going to see one. From Greek iatros, doctor.
  • Mysophobia Fear of germs, dirt and contamination. From Greek mysos, uncleanness.
  • Necrophobia Fear of corpses and things linked with death. From Greek nekros, dead body.
  • Nosophobia Fear of catching a disease. From Greek nosos, disease.
  • Omphalophobia Fear of navels. From Greek omphalos, navel.
  • Oneirophobia Fear of dreams. From Greek oneiros, dream.
  • Osmophobia Fear of smells, or a strong aversion to them. From Greek osme, smell.
  • Pharmacophobia Fear of medicines. From Greek pharmakon, drug.
  • Phonophobia Fear of loud sounds or voices. From Greek phone, voice or sound.
  • Thanatophobia Fear of death. From Greek thanatos, death.
  • Tomophobia Fear of surgery. From Greek tomos, a slice, from the verb for to cut.
  • Trypanophobia Fear of injections and medical needles. From Greek trypanon, a borer or drill.

Objects and food 14

  • Arachibutyrophobia Joke fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Latin arachis, peanut, plus butyrum, butter.
  • Automatonophobia Fear of humanlike figures such as mannequins, wax figures and statues. Built on automaton.
  • Bibliophobia Fear or dislike of books. From Greek biblion, a small book or document.
  • Catoptrophobia Fear of mirrors. From Greek katoptron, mirror. Spectrophobia and eisoptrophobia name it too.
  • Globophobia Fear of balloons. From Latin globus, sphere. The same word can mean a dislike of globalization.
  • Koumpounophobia Fear of buttons on clothing. From koumpi, the Modern Greek word for button.
  • Lachanophobia Fear of vegetables. From Greek lachanon, greens or vegetables.
  • Mageiricophobia Fear of cooking. From Greek mageirike, the culinary arts. Also seen misspelled as mageirocophobia.
  • Megalophobia Fear of very large objects. From megalo-, the Greek combining form for large.
  • Nomophobia Fear of having no working phone. Short for no mobile phobia, from 2008. In 1803 it meant fear of laws.
  • Pupaphobia Fear of puppets. From Latin pupa, doll or puppet, the word behind pupil and puppet.
  • Samhainophobia Fear of Halloween. From Samhain, the Gaelic festival on the night of 31 October.
  • Technophobia Fear of new technology. From techno-, the Greek combining form for skill.
  • Trypophobia Aversion to clusters of small holes. From Greek trypa, hole. Coined on an online forum in 2005.

Numbers, words and ideas 13

  • Aibohphobia Joke fear of palindromes. The word is one: the ending -phobia joined to itself written backwards.
  • Apeirophobia Fear of infinity and eternity. From Greek apeiros, infinite or boundless.
  • Arithmophobia Fear of numbers or arithmetic. From Greek arithmos, number. Numerophobia is the Latin twin.
  • Chromophobia Fear of colors. From Greek chroma, color. In biology the same word means resisting a stain.
  • Chronophobia Fear of time and of time passing. From Greek chronos, time.
  • Heptadecaphobia Fear of the number 17, mostly in Italy. One theory: XVII rearranges into VIXI, Latin for I have lived.
  • Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia Fear of the number 666. The name spells out six hundred, sixty and six in Greek.
  • Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia Joke fear of long words. Stretches sesquipedalian, a foot and a half long, with a hippo and a monster.
  • Panphobia Fear of everything, or a vague dread with no clear cause. From Greek pan, all.
  • Phobophobia Fear of fear itself, or of having a phobia. Greek phobos, fear, used twice.
  • Tetraphobia Avoiding the number 4. In Chinese, four sounds close to the word for death. From Greek tetra-.
  • Triskaidekaphobia Fear of the number 13. From Greek treiskaideka, three and ten. In print by 1910.
  • Xanthophobia Fear of the color yellow. From Greek xanthos, yellow. Porphyrophobia does the same for purple.

Everyday fears 24

  • Asking for help The character would sooner carry a sofa up four floors alone. Plots love this one.
  • Becoming like a parent The fear grows every time they catch the same phrase coming out of their own mouth.
  • Being a burden Pairs well with an illness or a debt the character keeps secret from the people closest to them.
  • Being found out as a fraud Suits the character everyone calls a natural. They wait daily for someone to notice.
  • Being late Gives you a character who arrives an hour early and sits in the car watching the clock.
  • Being ordinary Fuel for strivers and show-offs. What they do to stand out is where the story is.
  • Being photographed Hands you a character missing from every family album, and a reason to find out why.
  • Being replaced at work Give them a bright new hire at the next desk and a boss who keeps praising the newcomer.
  • Being the last to know Drives eavesdroppers, gossips and anyone who reads other people's mail.
  • Being watched while they eat Small, odd and visible at once. It turns every dinner scene into a test.
  • The check engine light Stands in for every problem the character can see coming and cannot afford to look at.
  • Driving on the motorway An everyday limit with plot value. Every trip takes back roads and twice as long.
  • Forgetting a name mid-introduction Tiny stakes, real sweat. Useful for comedy and for characters who hate parties.
  • Getting lost in a strange city Good for travel stories. Take away the map, the signal and the language, in that order.
  • Going back to a hometown Everyone there remembers the old version of them. The train ticket is the first scene.
  • Letting a parent down Works at any age. The parent does not need to be alive for the fear to run the show.
  • Making a promise They have broken one before. Now they say we will see, even to their own children.
  • Opening the mail The pile by the door keeps growing. One envelope in it changes everything.
  • Outliving a pet A gentle fear for a gentle character. It says they love hard and count the years.
  • Phone calls from unknown numbers A small modern fear. Let the phone ring out in chapter one and matter in chapter ten.
  • Running out of money Shows up as counted coins, kept receipts and a job the character hates but will not quit.
  • Saying the wrong thing at a funeral A social fear with a built-in scene. The harder they rehearse, the worse it comes out.
  • Sending a message to the wrong person One slip of the thumb. Decide who got it and you have the next three scenes.
  • Silence in a conversation Makes a talker. They fill every gap, and sooner or later they fill it with a secret.

How this list was compiled: We chose and wrote this list of 150 fears ourselves: 126 named fears and 24 plain everyday fears for story characters. The named fears and the things feared were checked on 2026-09-18 against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_phobias. Every word root, and each name that is missing from that list, was checked the same day against the word's own entry or its combining form on https://en.wiktionary.org/ (for example https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arachnophobia and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cyno-). Coining facts come from the same pages and from the English Wikipedia articles Nomophobia, Trypophobia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypophobia), Triskaidekaphobia, Tetraphobia and Heptadecaphobia, checked 2026-09-18. Decidophobia was checked again on 2026-09-19: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/decidophobia gives decide plus -phobia, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kaufmann_(philosopher) lists his 1973 book Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy, so the card is tagged as a modern coinage and not as a joke. The four names tagged as jokes (Aibohphobia, Anatidaephobia, Arachibutyrophobia and Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia) all sit in the jocular and fictional section of the Wikipedia list, checked 2026-09-19. How psychiatry sorts phobias follows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_phobia, checked the same day. A name went on the list only when a root could be confirmed, or when the dictionary itself says the root is unknown. Terms for prejudice against groups of people, sexual terms and medical conditions were left out on purpose. Greek words are written in plain Latin letters without accents. The everyday fears and their story notes are our own writing and are not drawn from any source. These are names for fears, not diagnoses, and nothing here describes symptoms or treatment. The root-language chips follow our own sorting of each root: Modern Greek counts as Greek, Scientific Latin as Latin, a name with a root from each sits under both, and English, Irish and unknown roots are Other. Licence: own work