Meanings
- uncountableAn abnormal fear of being dirty.
Fears of flatulence with a less directly social focus were discussed by Kubota (1987), who used a form of hypnotic treatment to overcome fears of flatulence in an adolescent Japanese girl. Her dread was conceptualized as automysophobia, the pathological fear of being dirty.
2012, Nick Haslam, Psychology in the Bathroom, →ISBN, page 592 more examples
His father physically abused him as a child (see Kürten and Gein), his mother mollycoddled him (see Gein), and his four sisters taunted and bullied him for his effeminacy, hypochondria, and fear of dirt —he suffered from automysophobia (fear of being dirty) and mysophobia (fear of dirt).
2014, Steve Finbow, Grave Desire: A Cultural History of Necrophilia, →ISBN"What're you in for?" he asked Billy, sounding like a hardened convict enquiring whether Billy had been incarcerated for housebreaking or carjacking. “I'm in for Automysophobia fear of getting dirty. Which can be a real bummer when playing footie. Just one speck of mud on my shorts and I freak!"
2015, Paul Shaw, Captain Cat and The Umbrella Kid: In Fear Can Be Fatal & The Aunt From The Blood Lagoon, →ISBN
Origin
Cite this entry
automysophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/automysophobia
“automysophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/automysophobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “automysophobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/automysophobia.
Source: automysophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.