germophobe

noun

germ·​o·​phobe ˈjər-mə-ˌfōb 

variants or germaphobe

plural germophobes or germaphobes

: a person who has an abnormal fear of germs or contamination : one affected with germophobia

No wonder germophobes—including me—are on high alert, viewing every surface as a potentially lethal petri dish.

—Laura Landro

The stone's actual powers are debatable, but one thing's for sure—the Blarney Stone is a germaphobe's nightmare.

—Catherine Prince

germophobic

ˌjər-mə-ˈfō-bik 

adjective

or germaphobic

In a sometimes germophobic society, we spend countless hours and dollars disinfecting surfaces, washing our hands, and taking antibiotics to keep unwelcome bacteria, fungi, and viruses at bay.

—Jan Suszkiw

Examples of germophobe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To pump the return of Tony Shalhoub as a beloved germophobe detective in Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, the marketing pros at Peacock had plenty of options, especially on the heels of a pandemic. —Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2023

Trump is a confessed germophobe. —Willie Brown, SFChronicle.com, 3 Oct. 2020

Jack Antonoff has always been a serious, handshake-avoiding, airplane-seat-wiping germophobe, but the past year didn’t phase him much. —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 16 June 2021

The main concern for Dahl, who freely calls himself a germophobe, is his employees' health and safety. —Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 3 Nov. 2020

All gathered Trump supporters, largely maskless, tightly packed together, and yet the president -- a habitual germophobe even before the pandemic -- always emerged unscathed. —Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg.com, 4 Oct. 2020

His voice may carry extra weight in the COVID-19 era, because Mandel is well known as a handshake-avoiding germophobe. —Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, 10 Aug. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above