Meanings
- humorousnonce worduncountableAn irrational fear of palindromes.
We trust that we've relieved any Aibohphobia, any fear of palindromes that you might have harbored.
1997, Richard Lederer, The Word Circus: A Letter-perfect Book, page 603 more examples
The article was a disservice to those of us who are unfortunate enough to be afflicted with aibohphobia.
1983, Author unknown, Science Digest, page 103If you suffer from aibohphobia (fear of palindromes) you should skip a few pages while the rest of us go in search of[…]
2004, Peter Seddon, Football Talk: The Language and Folklore of the World's Greatest Game, page 267We hope, however, that in passing this on we don't provoke any attacks of aibohphobia among our readers. This pallindrome, as Alan Lane discovered, means "an abnormal and persistent fear of pallindromes".
2006 Feb, NewScientist, page 56, column 3
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Deliberately constructed to be a palindrome, combining the suffix -phobia with its reversed spelling. First appeared as a response to National Challenge #36, in a newspaper column written by J Baxter Newgate. The challenge was to invent a phobia. The column did not identify the entrant. (Source: Orlando Sentinel, Oct 22, 1977)
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian яибофо́бия
- яибофо́бия (jaibofóbija)irrational fear of palindromes
Dutch eibofobie
- eibofobieirrational fear of palindromes
Esperanto oibofobio
- oibofobioirrational fear of palindromes
French eibohphobie
- eibohphobieirrational fear of palindromes
German Eibohphobie
- Eibohphobieirrational fear of palindromes
Hungarian aibófóbia, nyosziszony
- aibófóbiairrational fear of palindromes
- nyosziszonyirrational fear of palindromes
Italian aibofobia
- aibofobiairrational fear of palindromes
Korean 아비포비아
- 아비포비아 (abipobia)irrational fear of palindromes
Latvian ajibofobija
- ajibofobijairrational fear of palindromes
Lithuanian ajibofobija
- ajibofobijairrational fear of palindromes
Polish aibofobia
- aibofobiairrational fear of palindromes
Russian яибофо́бия
- яибофо́бия (jaibofóbija)irrational fear of palindromes
Spanish aibofobia
- aibofobiairrational fear of palindromes
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with aibohphobia
Cite this entry
aibohphobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aibohphobia
“aibohphobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aibohphobia. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aibohphobia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aibohphobia.
Source: aibohphobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.