A morbid fear of being touched.
Haptein is a Greek word that means to fasten (that is, to bring two things together).
Haptics is the English word for "a science concerned with the sense of touch," used in technologieslike touch-screen displays that let users feel clicks.
The dread of touching the skin or fur of an animal.
The Greek word dora means "the skin or hide of an animal."
The root word dora comes from the Greek verb derein, meaning "to skin or to flay." This is also the source of derm, the Greek word for skin, which shows up in words like "dermatology".
The morbid dread of being alone.
The Greek word erēmia means desert (a place where there are no other people).
The word hermit shares the same Greek root, but a hermit may find solace rather than dread in solitude.
A fear of or aversion to work.
Ergon is the Greek word for work.
This word shows a family resemblance to the words ergonomic and ergometer.
The morbid fear of sleep.
Hypnos is the Greek word for sleep.
Hypnotize is a word that shares the same Greek roots.
An abnormal fear of thunder.
Bronto is from the Greek word that means thunder.
The same root gives us the name of the brontosaurus (literally, "thunder lizard").
An abnormal fear of failure.
The Greek word kakorrhaphia means a clever or devious plot or plan, derived from kakos, meaning bad or evil.
The English word cacophony shares the same Greek roots.
An abnormal fear of snakes.
Ophis is the Greek word for snake.
Two other English words with similar roots are ophiomorphic, meaning "snakelike in form" and ophiophagous, which means "feeding on snakes."
Fear of being buried alive.
The Greek word taphē means burial or grave.
You can see the same Greek root in the English word epitaph (an inscription on a tomb).
An excessive fear of acquiring a phobia.
The Greek word phobos means "fear or flight."
When there's nothing left to fear but fear itself, this word is the perfect double whammy of the Greek word for fear.
Want more? See Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2
