A–Z list of phobias, fears and their meanings

A fear of fog can affect everyday situations involving driving in fog, foggy road, thick fog and low visibility.

Possible triggers

Waking to fog outside, entering a misty stretch of road or seeing visibility disappear into fog.

Name origin

From Greek homichlē (mist) and -phobia.

A fear of food can affect everyday situations involving restaurant food, spoiled food, mouldy food and undercooked food. It may lead to restricting foods, eating very cautiously, checking sensations while swallowing, avoiding meals or relying on a narrow set of familiar choices.

Possible triggers

Being offered an unfamiliar meal, facing a plate of food or anticipating eating away from home.

Name origin

From Latin cibus (food) and -phobia.

A fear of food shopping can affect everyday situations involving choosing food, supermarket, grocery store and food aisle. It may lead to restricting foods, checking ingredients or preparation, avoiding meals, shops or restaurants, or relying heavily on familiar choices.

Possible triggers

Entering a food shop, choosing groceries or preparing to make a food-shopping trip.

Name origin

From Greek opson (food) and -phobia.

A fear of foreign languages can affect everyday situations involving speaking foreign language, language class and mispronouncing. It may lead to avoiding interaction, rehearsing what to say, monitoring other people’s reactions, or replaying encounters afterwards.

Possible triggers

Being addressed in an unfamiliar language, attempting a conversation in another language or attending a language lesson.

Name origin

From Greek xenos (foreign) and glossa (tongue) with -phobia.

A fear of forests or wooded areas can affect everyday situations involving dense trees, dark woodland, remote forest and tree shadows.

Possible triggers

Entering a wooded path, walking between closely spaced trees or planning a visit to a forest.

Name origin

From Greek hylē (wood or forest) and -phobia.

Freedom itself is the focus of this term.

Possible triggers

Being given unrestricted choice, leaving a highly structured setting or having to decide your own direction.

Name origin

From Greek eleutheros (free) and -phobia (fear).

An informal name for fear focused on Friday the 13th, rather than the number thirteen in every setting.

Possible triggers

Noticing an upcoming Friday the thirteenth or arranging a journey or appointment on that date.

Name origin

A modern formation using Greek paraskeue (Friday), dekatria (thirteen) and phobos (fear).

A fear of frogs or toads can affect everyday situations involving frog jumping, pond frog, amphibian and frogs. It may lead to scanning surroundings, avoiding places where the animal might appear, asking other people to check or deal with it, or leaving suddenly when one is seen.

Possible triggers

Noticing a frog near a pond, encountering a toad on a path or viewing close-up amphibian footage.

Name origin

From Greek batrachos (frog) and -phobia.

Also known as

Batracophobia

The concern centres on being unable to access a usable mobile phone.

Possible triggers

Noticing a nearly empty phone battery, losing signal or realising you have left your phone behind.

Name origin

A shortened form of no mobile combined with phobia.

Xenophobia refers to fear, dislike or hostility towards people perceived as foreign. It can involve prejudice and discrimination, and should not be confused with a specific phobia or ordinary social anxiety.

Possible triggers

Contact with unfamiliar cultures or people perceived as foreign may bring prejudiced reactions into focus. This label is not a clinical phobia diagnosis and does not imply those people pose a threat.

Name origin

From Greek xenos (stranger or foreigner) and phobos (fear).