aphenphosmphobia

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἁφή“touch”
2. English todayaphenphosmphobia

Unknown element(s) + -phobia. The initial aphe- element is likely based on Ancient Greek ἁφή (haphḗ, “touch”), the same root as haphephobia. There is no Greek root φοσμ- (phosm-) or φωσμ- (phōsm-), and φῶς (phôs, “light”) can be eliminated on semantic grounds, so the middle element is probably a fanciful invention or error.

Words from the same roots