acarophobia

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/ˌækəɹəˈfəʊbi.ə/

noun

The fear of itching or of small crawling insects that cause itching, such as mites or lice.

“His acarophobia was obvious from his reaction when I told him he had lice.”

Scrabble 20
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Meanings

nounacarophobia (uncountable)
  1. uncountablemedicineThe fear of itching or of small crawling insects that cause itching, such as mites or lice.

    His acarophobia was obvious from his reaction when I told him he had lice.

    1 more example

    The term delusions of parasitosis was coined by Wilson and Miller (1946) dispelling earlier use of the word acarophobia (Thibierge 1894), entomophobia, and parasitophobia.

    (Can we date this quote?), Dr. Gale E. Ridge, “Delusory parasitosis. The belief of being lived on by arthropods or other organisms”, in The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, page 1

Origin

From acaro- + -phobia.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French acarophobie
  • acarophobieTranslations
German Acarophobie, Akarophobie
  • AcarophobieTranslations
  • AkarophobieTranslations
Italian acarofobia
  • acarofobiaTranslations
Portuguese acarofobia
  • acarofobiaTranslations
Spanish acarofobia
  • acarofobiaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

acarophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acarophobia

MLA

“acarophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acarophobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acarophobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acarophobia.

Source: acarophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.