tokophobia
/ˌtəʊkəˈfəʊbi.ə/
tokophobia means A morbid fear of childbirth or pregnancy. It carries an Arena rating of 1438, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tokophobia ranks #170 of 13,568 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,058 of 13,568 for Funniest Words, #1,363 of 13,568 for Most Incisive Words, #2,701 of 13,568 for Most Ponderous Words.
tokophobia is pronounced /ˌtəʊkəˈfəʊbi.ə/.
Why “tokophobia” is a great word
A profound, irrational dread of pregnancy and childbirth. From Ancient Greek τόκος (tókos, "birth") + -φοβία (-phobía, "fear"). The term was introduced into the medical literature in 2000. Unlike parturiphobia, which narrowly names the terror of the birthing act itself, or the diffuse unease of generalized anxiety, tokophobia is a specific, all-consuming terror of the entire gestational continuum. It is the cold dread at a missed period, the visceral recoil from a fetal kick, the paralyzing vision of the delivery room as a theater of certain ruin—the private, gendered horror of one’s own biology perceived not as a potential for life, but as a sentence of profound and inevitable violation.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek τόκος (tókos, “birth”) + -φοβία (-phobía, “fear”).
noun
- A morbid fear of childbirth or pregnancy.“As soon as Dr Guy Glass cured Rebecca of her tokophobia, the place would be full of children.”
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