teratophobia means an irrational fear of monsters (terrifying creatures, or deformed children: see usage notes). It carries an Arena rating of 1326, earned across 63 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, teratophobia ranks #2,427 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #2,496 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,864 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,409 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
Why “teratophobia” is a great word
TERATOPHOBIA — [Noun] An irrational fear of monsters or of giving birth to a deformed child. From the Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, "monster, marvel") and -φοβία (-phobía, "fear"). Unlike "pediophobia," which recoils from the uncanny artifice of dolls, or "dysmorphophobia," which fixates on perceived flaws of the self, teratophobia stares outward at the grotesque other or inward at a potential, monstrous creation. It is the cold dread that freezes you before the dark shape at the foot of the bed, the prenatal scan scrutinized for a shadow of the wrong kind, and the primal recoil from a carnival mirror offering a glimpse of a truer, more terrible anatomy. We fear not just the monster, but the monstrous possibility latent within creation itself.
Etymology
From terato- (“pertaining to birth defects”) + -phobia (“fear”), from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”).
noun
- An irrational fear of monsters (terrifying creatures, or deformed children: see usage notes).e.g.“For quotations using this term, see Citations:teratophobia.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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