Parenting

Are You Afraid Of The... Escalator? These "Weird" Phobias Are More Common Than You Think

by Deirdre Kaye
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
phobia names and meanings
Alexandra Gorn/Unsplash

Fear. It’s often paralyzing and sometimes irrational. We aren’t always ready to classify our fears as a “phobia” but they might actually be just that. If you’ve thrown up the night before every dentist appointment you’ve ever had, you might have a mild case of dentophobia (fear of dentists). If like millions of other people, you hesitate at the top of the escalator, that’s normal, too. Bathmophobia is the fear of stairs or steep slopes. (Though, if you really have bathmophobia, you’ll probably just walk to the other end of the mall and take the elevator, instead of powering through.)

That feeling of a pit in your stomach any time you have to speak in front of a crowd? That might be the very inkling of glossophobia, which is the fear of public speaking. People who live with androphobia, fear of men, typically avoid all men all the time and feel a sense of terror when they’re in a male presence.

Our fears, on the surface, might seem irrational. But, they’re usually caused by something. You hesitate on the escalator because of your mom’s story about that one girl who fell down and got stuck at the bottom. You hate the dentist because that first cavity as a kiddo was a doozy. And we fear men because, well… we watch the news?

There’s an entire laundry list of phobias. Some are pretty common. Everyone knows about agoraphobia and arachnophobia. Others are much more unique and unheard of. So we went ahead and made a list of both common and uncommon phobias. Do you think you might live with any of these?

Looking for more creepy and gross content? Check out our scary facts, interesting facts, and poop jokes pages!

Most Common Phobias

1. Acrophobia

Fear of heights. For some people, this can look like the uncontrollable urge to get away from the height but may result in panic attacks or agitation that may impair their sense of judgment.

2. Agoraphobia

Fear of public spaces or crowds. We’re all pretty familiar with this one — we often see it portrayed in movies by someone who is a complete shut-in. People who have learned to control their agoraphobia might be out living everyday life but still avoid places like malls, concerts, or well-attended football games.

3. Arachnophobia

Fear of spiders. A good chunk of America will say they have arachnophobia, right? Kim Kardashian West, for example, has documented her phobia on countless episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

4. Astraphobia

Fear of thunder and lightning. Next time your dog sidles up to you in the middle of a storm, you can diagnose him with this one.

5. Autophobia

Fear of being alone. Most of us dread the thought of dying alone but still relish a bit of alone time from time to time. This is a much more severe situation — if you have autophobia you probably never, ever want to be alone.

6. Claustrophobia

Fear of confined or crowded spaces. This most often presents itself during elevator rides or CT scans. But, it often affects people on planes, too!

7. Hemophobia

Fear of blood. If you pass out at the sight of having your blood taken or your kid’s bloody scraped knee, you might have hemophobia.

8. Hydrophobia

Also known as aquaphobia, this phobia presents as the fear of water. This is a confusing one and can take varying forms in different people. If you have hydrophobia, are you so terrified of water that you don’t even take baths or showers… or just don’t like to have the water hit your face? Or are you just overcome with dread at the sight of larger bodies of water?

9. Ophidiophobia

Fear of snakes. Granted snakes have a tendency to freak many people out, but people with this phobia sometimes can’t even look at photos of this scaly critter.

10. Pteromerhanophobia/Aerophobia

Fear of flying. There are actually several names for the fear of flying. That’s partly because there are so many ways to be afraid of flying. Are you fine in a helicopter or on a trapeze but hate riding in a plane? Or do you only hate flying in airplanes? Depending on your answers, you could be diagnosed in various ways.

11. Trypanophobia

Fear of needles or injections. This can also sometimes present similarly to “Aichmophobia” which is the fear of needles or pointed objects.

12. Zoophobia

Fear of animals. Can you imagine a life without animals? Probably not. For people with zoophobia, though, imagining a life with animals is downright terrifying.

Unique And Weird Phobias

  1. Achluophobia — Fear of darkness
  2. Alektorophobia — Fear of chickens
  3. Anthophobia — Fear of flowers
  4. Aphenphosmphobia — Fear of being touched
  5. Ataxophobia — Fear of disorder or untidiness
  6. AtelophobiaFear of imperfection
  7. Atychiphobia — Fear of failure
  8. Barophobia — Fear of gravity
  9. Bathmophobia — Fear of stairs or steep slopes
  10. Batrachophobia — Fear of amphibians
  11. Bacteriophobia — Fear of bacteria
  12. Bibliophobia — Fear of books
  13. Belonephobia — Fear of pins and needles
  14. Botanophobia — Fear of plants
  15. Catagelophobia — Fear of being ridiculed
  16. Catoptrophobia — Fear of mirrors
  17. Chionophobia — Fear of snow
  18. Cryophobia — Fear of ice or cold
  19. Cacophobia — Fear of ugliness
  20. Chionophobia — Fear of snow
  21. Chromophobia — Fear of colors
  22. Chronomentrophobia — Fear of clocks
  23. Coulrophobia — Fear of clowns
  24. Cyberphobia — Fear of computers
  25. Cynophobia — Fear of dogs
  26. Dendrophobia — Fear of trees
  27. Dentophobia — Fear of dentists
  28. Domatophobia — Fear of houses
  29. Dystychiphobia — Fear of accidents
  30. Ecophobia — Fear of the home
  31. Elurophobia — Fear of cats
  32. Entomophobia — Fear of insects
  33. Ephebiphobia — Fear of teenagers
  34. Equinophobia — Fear of horses
  35. Gamophobia — Fear of marriage
  36. Genuphobia — Fear of knees
  37. Glossophobia — Fear of speaking in public
  38. Gynophobia — Fear of women
  39. Heliophobia — Fear of the sun
  40. Herpetophobia — Fear of reptiles
  41. Hydrophobia — Fear of water
  42. Hypochondria — Fear of illness
  43. Iatrophobia — Fear of doctors
  44. Insectophobia — Fear of insects
  45. Koinoniphobia — Fear of rooms full of people
  46. Leukophobia — Fear of the color white
  47. Lilapsophobia — Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes
  48. Lockiophobia — Fear of childbirth
  49. Mageirocophobia — Fear of cooking
  50. Megalophobia — Fear of large things
  51. Melanophobia — Fear of the color black
  52. Microphobia — Fear of small things
  53. Mysophobia — Fear of dirt and germs
  54. Octophobia — Fear of the figure 8
  55. Onomatophobia — Fear of names
  56. Pogonophobia — Fear of beards
  57. Papyrophobia – Fear of paper
  58. Pathophobia – Fear of disease
  59. Pedophobia – Fear of children
  60. Philematophobia – Fear of Kissing
  61. Philophobia – Fear of love
  62. Phobophobia – Fear of phobias
  63. Podophobia – Fear of feet
  64. Porphyrophobia – Fear of the color purple
  65. Pteridophobia – Fear of ferns
  66. Pyrophobia – Fear of fire
  67. Samhainophobia – Fear of Halloween
  68. Scolionophobia – Fear of school
  69. Scoptophobia – Fear of being stared at
  70. Selenophobia – Fear of the moon
  71. Sociophobia – Fear of social evaluation
  72. Somniphobia – Fear of sleep
  73. Tachophobia – Fear of speed
  74. Taphephobia – Fear of being buried alive
  75. Tapinophobia – Fear of being contagious
  76. Taurophobia – Fear of bulls
  77. Technophobia – Fear of technology
  78. Teleophobia – Fear of definite plans
  79. Testophobia – Fear of taking tests
  80. Thalassophobia – Fear of the sea
  81. Thanatophobia – Fear of death or dying
  82. Theatrophobia – Fear of theaters
  83. Thermophobia – Fear of heat
  84. Tocophobia – Fear of childbirth
  85. Tonitrophobia – Fear of thunder
  86. Toxiphobia – Fear of poison
  87. Traumatophobia – Fear of injury
  88. Tremophobia – Fear of trembling
  89. Trichopathophobia – Fear of hair disease
  90. Trichophobia – Fear of loose hair
  91. Triskaidekaphobia – Fear of the number
  92. Trypophobia – Fear of Holes
  93. Turophobia – Fear of cheese
  94. Vaccinophobia – Fear of vaccinations
  95. Venustraphobia – Fear of beautiful women
  96. Verbophobia – Fear of words
  97. Verminophobia – Fear of germs
  98. Vestiphobia – Fear of clothing
  99. Virginitiphobia – Fear of rape
  100. Vitricophobia – Fear of stepfathers
  101. Walloonophobia – Fear of the Walloons, an ethnic group native to Belgium
  102. Wiccaphobia – Fear of witches and witchcraft
  103. Xenophobia – Fear of strangers or foreigners

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