Meanings
- uncountableFear of tornadoes and hurricanes.
Sophie lost everything she owned in a tornado and now suffers from lilapsophobia—fear of tornadoes—so she re-located from Oklahoma to Florida.
2014, Christopher Cortman, Harold Shinitzky, Laurie-Ann O'Connor, Take Control of Your Anxiety: A Drug-Free Approach to Living a Happy, Healthy Life2 more examples
This sometimes results in lilapsophobia (the fear of tornadoes and hurricanes) which is expressed as an ongoing fear that any storms will become severe.
2016, John Tyrrell, “Site Investigations of Tornado Events”, in Robert K. Doe, editor, Extreme Weather: Forty Years of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO), page 98Jake listened as the newscaster reported a tornado approaching their general area from the southwestern corner of the county. She jumped and paled. “The storm!” He'd seen people with severe fears of storms before. But at the terror in her eyes, he knew it went deeper than that.[…]Lilapsophobia was a very real condition.
2019, Calle J. Brookes, chapter 102, in Holding the Truth
Origin
- Ancient Greekλαῖλαψ“hurricane”
- Englishlilapsophobia
From Ancient Greek λαῖλαψ (laîlaps, “hurricane”) + -o- + -phobia.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lilapsophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lilapsophobia
“lilapsophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lilapsophobia. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lilapsophobia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lilapsophobia.
Source: lilapsophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.