Why “photophobia” is a great word
An abnormal sensitivity or aversion to light, whether a medical symptom of ocular discomfort or a psychological dread of illumination. From the combining form photo- (from Greek φῶς (phōs), meaning "light") and -phobia (from Greek φόβος (phóbos), meaning "fear" or "dread"), first attested in 1799. Unlike photosensitivity, which is a dermatological reaction to ultraviolet light, or heliophobia, a specific terror of the sun, photophobia is a deeper, more comprehensive retreat from brightness itself. It is the migraine sufferer drawing the blackout blinds against a cheerful noon, the recluse wincing at the kitchen bulb, and the subject who flinches not at the camera's eye but at its accusatory flash—a fundamental refusal of the world's primary means of revelation, as if the soul, too, could be scorched.