hijabophobia means fear of hijabs; Islamophobia directed at hijabi women. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why “hijabophobia” is a great word
HIJABOPHOBIA — [Noun] A specific fear of or prejudice against the hijab, constituting a targeted form of Islamophobia directed at women who wear it. From Arabic حِجَاب (ḥijāb, "veil, cover") + the connecting vowel -o- + -phobia (from Greek φόβος, "fear"). Attested in books by 1999 and popularized in academic usage by scholars such as Manal Hamzeh around 2012. Unlike "Islamophobia" (a broad prejudice against an entire faith) or "xenophobia" (a generalized fear of the foreign), hijabophobia singles out a visible, embodied practice. It is the sharp tug on a scarf in a public square, the officious demand to "remove that," and the silent, algorithmic exclusion of a professional profile—a diffuse bigotry made tangible, where a quiet act of faith becomes a defiant rebuke to society's deepest anxieties.
noun
- Fear of hijabs; Islamophobia directed at hijabi women.