Meanings
- rareuncountableThe fear of tombstones.
I know, cryptophobia isn’t a real fear, but the closest thing I could find to describe it was placophobia: the fear of tombstones, or taphophobia: the fear of graves.
2013, James Mascia, High Shool Heroes III: Hero Heist, 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 1822 more examples
Dozens of websites now exist purporting to be skilled in treating this condition — which may be accompanied by or related to other phobias, including placophobia, a fear of tombstones or burial, or ailurophobia, fear of cats — even though there are virtually no documented cases of it.
2012, Lisa Morton, Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween, London, UK: Reaktion Books, →ISBN, page 113To understand placophobia is to enter a very intimate corner of the human psyche, where death, remembrance, and anxiety intertwine in subtle and often misunderstood ways.
2025, Penelope J. Westwood, “Understanding Placophobia: An Introduction” (chapter 1), in Tombstone Fear: Inside the Mind of Placophobic Individuals, Xspurts, →ISBN, unnumbered page
Origin
From Ancient Greek πλάξ (pláx, “tombstone”) + -o- + -phobia.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
placophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/placophobia
“placophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/placophobia. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “placophobia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/placophobia.
Source: placophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.