triskaidekaphobia

/ˌtɹɪskaɪdɛkəˈfəʊbi.ə/

triskaidekaphobia means fear or dislike of the number thirteen (13).

triskaidekaphobia is pronounced /ˌtɹɪskaɪdɛkəˈfəʊbi.ə/.

Why “triskaidekaphobia” is a great word

An irrational dread of the number thirteen, crystallized from the Ancient Greek τρεισκαίδεκα (treiskaídeka, "thirteen"), from τρεῖς (treîs, "three") and δέκα (déka, "ten"), combined with the English suffix -phobia ("fear"), first attested in English in 1908. Unlike paraskevidekatriaphobia, which targets the confluence of Friday and the thirteenth, or superstition, which permits a diffuse, casual unease, triskaidekaphobia is a precise, numerical dread: the skipped floor in an elevator, the empty chair at a table set for twelve, the chill along the spine when a clock reads 13:13. It is the mind's silent rebellion against a digit, harmless in itself, now swollen with centuries of shadow.

Etymology

From triskaideka- (“thirteen”) + -phobia.

noun

Fear or dislike of the number thirteen (13).

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

triskaidekaphobic 89% match — Someone who suffers from triskaidekaphobia vs triskaidekaphobia →
triskaidekaphobe 86% match — Someone who suffers from triskaidekaphobia. vs triskaidekaphobia →
decaphobia 71% match — Fear of the number ten. vs triskaidekaphobia →
enneadecaphobia 68% match — Fear of the number nineteen. vs triskaidekaphobia →
dodecaphobia 67% match — Fear of the number 12. vs triskaidekaphobia →
eikositriophobia 66% match — Fear of the number twenty-three. vs triskaidekaphobia →
tetraphobia 64% match — Custom of avoiding the number four (4) commonly seen in those East Asian countries in whose local languages the words for "4" and "death" are paronymous or homophonous. vs triskaidekaphobia →
eikosioctophobia 64% match — Fear of the number twenty-eight. vs triskaidekaphobia →