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prettygoodword ([personal profile] prettygoodword) wrote2010-03-31 07:18 am

haphephobia

haphephobia (haf-eh-FOH-bee-ə) - n., a morbid fear of touching.


Also spelled aphephobia, haphophobia, hapnophobia, haptephobia, and haptophobia, also called thixophobia -- which first seems to be the most common term. All of the former are coined from variations on Greek ἁφή (haphe), touch, which also gave us a bunch of hapto- words. Can include fear of touching someone as much as being touched.

---L.