hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
nounEtymology
From hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian, in turn an extension of sesquipedalian with ad hoc combining forms of Latin monstrum (“monster”) and hippopotamus (intended to exaggerate the length of the word itself and the idea of the size of the words being feared), + -phobia.
Definitions
A playful, non-clinical term for the fear of long words, coined as an exaggerated…
A playful, non-clinical term for the fear of long words, coined as an exaggerated extension of “sesquipedalian”. Despite its appearance, it is not an officially recognized psychiatric diagnosis in standard diagnostic systems.
- Ben suffers from hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, so he seldom uses words of more than three syllables.
- However, we assume that despite the best endeavours of science, some phobias will always remain. These include paraskavedekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday the 13th. And hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, which is fear of long words.
- Those who find this column troubling are suffering from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia—the fear of long words. Or, more likely, rupophobia—a fear of rubbish.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA