Clinical psychology defines a phobia as a persistent and usually irrational fear of a specific object or scenario, often disproportional to the actual danger posed. People will go to great lengths to avoid their phobias, but when an encounter is unavoidable, sufferers typically endure the event with acute distress.

Some phobias are very common. For example, many people exhibit a fear of heights or a fear of small enclosed spaces. Other phobias though, might be a bit more….err….”unique.”

Consider our alphabetized list of weird phobias below:

[showmyads] 1. Anablephobia – Fear of looking up

2. Arachibutyrophobia – Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth

3. Barophobia – Fear of gravity

4. Chrometophobia – Fear of money

5. Chirophobia – Fear of hands

6. Chromatophobia – Fear of colors

7. Cibophobia – Fear of food

8. Clinophobia – Fear of going to bed

9. Defecaloesiophobia – Fear of painful bowels movements

10. Dendrophobia – Fear of trees

11. Dipsophobia – Fear of drinking

12. Eleutherophobia – Fear of freedom

13. Epistemophobia – Fear of knowledge

14. Euphobia – Fear of hearing good news

15. Francophobia – Fear of France or French culture

16. Frigophobia – Fear of cold things

17. Geniophobia – Fear of chins

18. Genuphobia – Fear of knees

19. Hedonophobia – Fear of feeling pleasure

20. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia – Fear of long words

21. Ideophobia – Fear of ideas

22. Ithyphallophobia – Fear of seeing, thinking about or having an erect penis

23. Japanophobia – Fear of Japanese.

24. Judeophobia – Fear of Jews

25. Koinoniphobia – Fear of rooms

26. Kyphophobia – Fear of stooping

27. Linonophobia – Fear of string

28. Megalophobia – Fear of large things

29. Microphobia – Fear of small things

30. Neophobia – Fear of anything new

31. Nomatophobia – Fear of names

32. Numerophobia – Fear of numbers

33. Ombrophobia – Fear of rain or of being rained on

34. Omphalophobia – Fear of belly buttons

35. Optophobia – Fear of opening one’s eyes

36. Pedophobia – Fear of children

37. Peladophobia – Fear of becoming bald and fear of being around bald people

38. Phagophobia – Fear of swallowing

39. Phobophobia – Fear of phobias

40. Rectophobia – fear of rectums

41. Russophobia – Fear of Russians

42. Selenophobia – Fear of the moon

43. Somniphobia – Fear of sleep

44. Sophophobia – Fear of learning

45. Telephonophobia – Fear of telephones

46. Thaasophobia – Fear of sitting

47. Urophobia – Fear of urine or urinating

48. Verbophobia – Fear of words

49. Xanthophobia – Fear of the color yellow or the word yellow

50. Zelophobia – Fear of jealousy

Photo courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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