neophobia

/niːəˈfəʊbɪə/

Etymology

From neo- + -phobia.

neophobia means The fear or hatred of novelty, new things, innovation, or unfamiliar places or situations. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

NEOPHOBIA — [Noun] A profound, often irrational aversion to anything new or unfamiliar. From the Greek neo- ("new") and -phobia ("fear"). Unlike xenophobia, which fixates on the foreigner as a threatening outsider, or conservatism, which is a principled philosophy of preservation, neophobia is a deeper, more visceral recoil from the un-tasted, the un-tried, the un-proven. It is the hand hesitating over the unfamiliar dish, the palate rejecting an exotic spice, and the quiet panic at the silent glide of an electric car—a primal instinct forever mistaking the uncharted map for an enemy country.

noun

The fear or hatred of novelty, new things, innovation, or unfamiliar places or situations.“[T]he murdering of Mormons and the massacring of Armenians, express much rather that aboriginal human neophobia, […] than they express the positive piety of the various perpetrators.”