Meanings
- rareuncountableFear and/or paranoia due to the economics of oil and petroleum.
1 more example
Last week, as Americans were hit the hardest by record crude oil prices, the LA Times reported, in a piece entitled "Supply Fears, Fuel Speculators Pumping up Oil Prices." It goes on in the article. It says, "In an energy futures market wracked with concern that oil demand might outstrip supplies, traders call it petronoia, threats alone were enough to ignite prices."
2006, World crude-oil pricing: hearing before the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, second session
Origin
Coined by Ben Brockwell, editor-in-chief of the Oil Price Information Service. Blend of petroleum + paranoia.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
petronoia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petronoia
“petronoia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petronoia. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petronoia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petronoia.
Source: petronoia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.